Glossary
Mechanisms of action
What is a mechanism of action?
A mechanism of action is a process proposed to explain how an intervention brings about a change. In behavioral research, examples might include a change in expectations, attention, or available opportunities.
Hypothesis versus demonstration
Naming a plausible process is different from showing that it caused an intervention’s effect. Researchers need appropriate measures, timing, and causal assumptions to test that explanation. A technique may act through several processes, and the process may differ between settings.
Example of a proposed mechanism
A goal-setting intervention might be intended to focus attention on a particular action. Researchers could test whether attention changes before behavior changes and whether that change helps explain the result. Naming attention as the mechanism is the start of that test, not its conclusion.
Evidence and limits
Carey and colleagues’ synthesis of technique–mechanism links extracted hypothesized relationships from 277 intervention articles. The authors explicitly state that whether those links are empirically supported needs further investigation. The map gives researchers possible explanations to test; it does not establish the explanations as facts.