Trust in congruent sources, absolutely: the moderating effects of ideological and epistemological beliefs on the relationship between perceived source congruency and news credibility

Journal article

This study explores the moderating effects that ideological and epistemological beliefs have on the relationship between perceived news source congruency and ratings of news credibility. Findings from an online experiment with a US sample (N = 429) show that news from a perceived ideologically congruent source is seen as being more credible than news from an ideologically incongruent source. Stronger ideological beliefs exacerbate this effect. Epistemological beliefs also moderate this effect. The more that individuals view the nature of knowledge and knowing in certain, black-and-white terms, the more likely they are to rate political news from an ideologically congruent source as credible. On the other hand, the more evaluative that individuals’ views on the nature of knowledge and knowing are, the more likely they are to rate political news from a neutral source as credible. Findings raise normative concerns regarding the ready acceptance of agreeable information yet also point to a potential path toward mitigating this problem: fostering critical, evaluative thinking.

Authors: Robertson, CT

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• Journal: Journalism Studies
• Volume: 22
• Issue: 7
• Pages: 896-915
• Publication date: 2021-03-30
• Acceptance date: 2021-02-26
• DOI: 10.1080/1461670X.2021.1904273
• EISSN: 1469-9699
• ISSN: 1461-670X
• Language: English
• Keywords: FFR