RESEARCH DISCIPLINE
Choosing a PROCESS Macro Model
For Psychology Research in SPSS
Choosing a PROCESS macro model means matching the model number to the hypothesis diagram, with questionnaire scales scored and checked first, group comparisons run where the design calls for them, and bootstrapped intervals for indirect effects, each decision explained for your reviewers.
No Commitment Required
Strictly Confidential
In-House PhD-Level Statisticians
Fixed Project Fee
Same-Day Response
How Is a PROCESS Macro Model Chosen for a Psychology Study?
Choosing a PROCESS macro model means matching the model number to the hypothesis diagram, after the groundwork most psychology studies share: scoring and checking questionnaire scales, comparing groups or conditions and relating variables in regression. Most psychology SPSS datasets need preparation first, such as reverse-scored items, a rule for incomplete scales and a clear coding of conditions, and the PROCESS macro, which is installed separately, estimates models with mediators and moderators, with bootstrapping used for the interval around each indirect effect. PROCESS model numbers fix where the mediator and the moderator sit: model 4 estimates one mediator or several in parallel, model 6 mediators in series, model 1 a single moderator, and models 7 and 14 place a moderator on the first or the second stage of an indirect path. The model number and its settings are reported with the results. OnlineSPSS, a specialist statistical consultancy for academic, clinical and professional research, supports psychology researchers who work in SPSS: an in-house PhD-level statistician analyzes the agreed data and explains each decision. Theory, hypotheses and the meaning of each effect are matters for your own discussion.
WHEN TO ENGAGE
Where a Psychology Hypothesis Meets the Data
Four junctions recur: scoring the scales, setting up a mediator or moderator, comparing groups or conditions and answering reviewers.
Scales Awaiting Scoring Questionnaire items are in the file, and the reverse-scored items, the subscale structure and the rule for incomplete responses must be settled before any total score is computed.
A Mediator or Moderator Proposed The hypothesis names a variable that explains or conditions an effect, and the model, the centering and, for an indirect effect, the bootstrapped interval need to be set up and read correctly.
Groups or Conditions to Compare Conditions or groups are to be compared on one or more outcomes, and the design decides whether the comparison is between participants, within participants or both.
Review Comments on the Analysis A reviewer or committee has questioned a model, the treatment of missing items or the wording of an effect, and the analysis must be answered from the data.
WHAT THE ANALYSIS COVERS
The Analyses Psychology Studies Commonly Rely On
Psychology projects draw on a common set of analyses, from the preparation of scales to the conditional models that the PROCESS macro estimates.
Scale Preparation
Items are reverse-scored, scale scores are computed with a stated rule for missing items, and the reliability of each scale in your own sample is examined before scores enter any model.
Group and Experimental Comparisons
Differences between groups or conditions are estimated with intervals and effect sizes, using the comparison that suits the design, as in the work described under Psychology & Behavioral Sciences.
Regression and Association
Predictors of a psychological outcome are modeled with attention to measurement, covariates and the limits of a cross-sectional design.
Mediators
SPSS PROCESS macro analysis estimates the indirect path with a bootstrapped interval, the approach set out in Mediation Analysis.
Moderators
An interaction between predictors is estimated, with predictors centered where it makes the lower-order terms interpretable, probed at stated values and reported as in Moderation Analysis.
Reporting Conventions
Tables and wording follow APA 7 and the habits of the subfield, with effect sizes and intervals reported next to the tests so reviewers can judge the size of an effect.
COMMON PSYCHOLOGY ISSUES
Recurring Weak Points in Psychology Analyses
In psychology analyses the weak points cluster around measurement and the wording of effects; the statistical test itself is seldom the problem.
Scores Summed Over Blank Items A scale total is computed with blank items skipped, so respondents with unanswered items receive lower totals than their answers justify, and the scores are no longer comparable.
Mediation Read as Causation A significant indirect path in cross-sectional data is described as showing that one variable causes another through a third, which the design cannot establish.
Products Without Centering An interaction is added to a regression without centering or attention to the lower-order terms, so the lower-order coefficients are read at a zero that has no meaning.
Model Number Picked From a List Picking a model by its PROCESS number, without matching its diagram to the hypothesis, puts the moderator on the wrong path, so the conditional effect answers a different question.
Items Averaged Without Evidence Ordered-response items are averaged into a scale without checking that they form one dimension, so the score may blend different constructs.
Participants Excluded Late Participants are excluded for inattention or failed checks after the results are seen and the criteria are not stated, which a reviewer may read as selective.
DELIVERABLES
What a Psychology Analysis Returns to You
Psychology reviewers want to see how scores were built, how models were specified and how effects were probed, so the package is arranged in that order.
Scoring Rules and Codebook How every scale was scored, which items were reversed, how incomplete responses were handled, and the reliability of each scale in your sample.
Cleaned SPSS File A data file with labeled variables, computed scales and flagged exclusions, each exclusion tied to a criterion that was stated in advance.
Model Syntax and PROCESS Settings The SPSS syntax with the PROCESS model numbers and options used, such as the number of bootstrap samples and centering, so the models can be rerun.
Effects With Intervals Group differences, associations and indirect effects reported with confidence intervals and effect sizes, in APA 7 table format.
Probing Tables and Plots Conditional effects at stated values of a moderator, with a plot and a note on how those values were chosen.
Reporting Notes for Reviewers Short notes on how each result can be worded without overstating causation, with answers to the queries reviewers are likely to raise about the models.
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE
A Cross-Sectional Mediation Model Worded With Care
An illustration of how a psychology survey moves from scale scoring to an indirect effect reported without overclaiming.
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE · LONELINESS AND SOCIAL MEDIA SURVEY RESEARCH · UNITED STATES
A doctoral researcher in social psychology surveyed adults about loneliness, passive social media use and depressive symptoms, and hypothesized that passive use was linked to symptoms through loneliness.
The data were cross-sectional, so the model was framed as a pattern of associations. The complication lay in the measures: two loneliness items overlapped in content with the depressive symptom scale, which could inflate the link between mediator and outcome, so the model was also estimated with those items removed and both results were reported. The PROCESS macro estimated the indirect path with a bootstrapped confidence interval. The write-up described the indirect path as consistent with the proposed account and stated that the design could not establish its direction.
Outcome: The researcher received the scoring rules, the indirect path with its bootstrapped 95% confidence interval, the PROCESS settings, the SPSS syntax and a note on wording the findings.
This example does not describe a real client or project. We never share details of actual client work, in line with the confidentiality we promise every researcher. This illustrative example is included to show the type, scope, and standard of work involved in this kind of analysis.
SOFTWARE
Programs Psychology Teams Pair With SPSS
Psychology laboratories often mix tools, so the work follows the program your collaborators and journal expect and keeps one record of every model.
HOW WE ASSESS YOUR PROJECT
We Review Your Actual Research
Your assessment is based on a review of your actual research materials and analytical requirements, not a generic project category.
You Submit Your Project Details
Share whatever is available at the current stage, such as the research aim, protocol or proposal, dataset, variable list, manuscript or statistical requirements.
We Review Your Research and Define the Scope
Your statistically trained Research Coordinator reviews the materials to understand the study design, research questions, data structure, analytical requirements and expected deliverables. If clarification is needed, additional documents or information can be requested before the assessment is finalized.
Your Analysis Is Completed and Delivered
Once the scope and fixed project fee are agreed, the in-house statistician completes the work and the Research Coordinator remains the communication point through delivery, with the analysis, deliverables and timeline as agreed.
RESEARCH RESPONSIBILITY
Statistical Support and Your Psychological Theory
OnlineSPSS carries out the analysis of the data, while the theory, the hypotheses, the meaning of the effects and the conclusions belong to the researcher.
Agreed Statistical Support OnlineSPSS provides the agreed methodological, analytical and statistical reporting support, defined in a scope that is confirmed before any work begins.
No Intellectual Contribution OnlineSPSS does not claim any intellectual contribution to your study, manuscript or report. Authorship remains the researcher's.
Your Research Decisions The theory, the hypotheses, the interpretation of the effects, the discussion and the conclusions remain yours, with overall responsibility.
Confidential Handling Research data and project details are handled confidentially, project information is not published, and an NDA is available where required.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Questions About PROCESS Models in Psychology Research
Where PROCESS comes from and how it is cited, how attention-check exclusions are reported and which covariates earn a place in the model.
How is a PROCESS macro model chosen for a psychology study?
The hypothesis is drawn as a diagram, and the model is the one whose mediators and moderators sit on the same paths; the scales are scored and checked before it is run. At OnlineSPSS the agreed analysis also covers scale scoring, group comparisons and regression where the study needs them, reported with confidence intervals.
Is the PROCESS macro part of SPSS?
No. PROCESS is written by Andrew F. Hayes and distributed separately from IBM. It is added to SPSS as a custom dialog or run through syntax, and the installation steps vary by SPSS version. Because it is an add-on, the version of PROCESS used is reported in the methods, along with the model number and the bootstrap settings.
How should participants excluded for failed attention checks be reported?
The exclusion criteria are stated in advance where possible, the number excluded at each step is reported, and the main results are shown for the full and the reduced sample when the two might differ. If the criteria were set after seeing results, that is said openly. Readers can then judge whether the exclusions shaped the findings.
Which demographic variables should be entered as covariates?
Those chosen from theory and prior evidence before looking at significance, not every variable available. A variable that the predictor itself may influence can distort the effect of interest if it is entered, so it is considered with care. Reporting the main result with and without the covariates shows how far the conclusion depends on the choice.
How do you protect my research data and confidentiality?
Your data and project details are handled confidentially, and project information is not published. Researcher names and institutions are not used publicly without permission. An NDA is available where required and can be arranged before sensitive materials are shared. Read more about confidentiality and data security.
What happens when I request an assessment, and how long does it take?
You share your research question, design and relevant materials, such as the SPSS data file, the scale items and any preregistration, and a statistically trained Research Coordinator reviews the request and responds the same day. The analysis, deliverables, timeline and one fixed project fee are then confirmed before any work begins, so the timeline follows from the agreed scope.
Still have a question? Find more answers in our full FAQ.
NEXT STEP
What Is Your Hypothesis,
and What Did You Measure?
Begin with the hypothesis in a single sentence and the full item list for each scale, since scoring and model choice in psychology both start there.
No Commitment Required
Strictly Confidential
Fixed Project Fee
In-House PhD-Level Statisticians
Same-Day Response
Serving Researchers Since 2014