source credibility
Definition
Source credibility refers to individuals' perceptions of a source's expertise, trustworthiness, and lack of bias, which influence responses to information. In misinformation contexts, source credibility effects have yielded inconsistent findings, partly because studies often conflate credibility dimensions or fail to systematically operationalize and conceptualize these constructs. Source credibility effects appear more consistent for cognitive outcomes like perceived accuracy than for behavioral outcomes such as sharing intentions, and effects are stronger with shorter stimuli such as social media posts than with longer articles where substantive content may override source cues.
Sources: Mang et al. (2024)
Related Terms
Applications
Source Credibility and Misinformation Susceptibility
Perceived source credibility affects how individuals respond to misinformation exposure and shapes the effectiveness of misinformation corrections. Research has examined how the credibility of sources presenting misinformation influences individual responses, as well as how the credibility of sources providing corrections influences correction effectiveness.
Sources: Mang et al. (2024)
Source Credibility and Cognitive Elaboration
Source credibility information functions differently depending on the extent of individuals' processing of messages. When processing is minimal, source credibility acts as a peripheral cue; under moderate processing, it can alter message processing; and under high processing, it may act as an issue-relevant argument or bias processing.
Sources: Mang et al. (2024)
