What is an antecedent variable?

An antecedent variable is known as an independent variable that precedes other independent variables in time. The independent variable can be affected by antecedent variable and alter its relationship to the dependent variable. Consider this as an example.

You want to identify those variables which tells more about the political party identification (PID). You make a decision as a result of your literature review and data analysis that one’s attitude about legal abortion helps to explain why your subjects affiliate with the Republican or Democratic Party. In this example, attitude about legal abortion is the independent variable while the PID is the dependent variable.