Source credibility and plausibility are considered in the validation of textual information: evidence from a social media context

Abstract

ABSTRACT We examined the interplay of message plausibility and trustworthiness in the validation of tweet-like messages. Reading times served as implicit indicator for validation and participants rated the tweets’ plausibility and source credibility. In Experiment 1, plausibility was varied via text-belief consistency and trustworthiness via the message’s fit with the source’s typical argumentative position. Participants read belief-inconsistent (vs. belief-consistent) messages longer and judged these as less plausible. Similarly, participants read messages from untrustworthy (vs. trustworthy) sources longer and judged these as less plausible. Belief-consistent messages by a trustworthy (vs. untrustworthy) source were judged as more plausible. In Experiment 2, plausibility was varied via world-knowledge consistency and trustworthiness via the reputation of media organizations. Participants read plausible messages from untrustworthy (vs. trustworthy) sources more slowly. Plausibility and trustworthiness seem to be considered in the validation of tweet-like messages, but their exact relationship seems to depend on contextual factors.