Situational and topical variations in credibility criteria

Abstract

This study tested the hypothesis that credibility criteria (scales) differ in their sensitivity to topic‐situations. Fifty‐one scales, including nine marker scales identified by previous research, were tested across four topic‐situations. Forty‐one of the scales, including seven of the nine marker scales, were found to differ significantly across the four topic‐situations. Of the ten scales that behaved consistently across topic‐situations, at least two were so close to a neutral rating that they might have been considered by judges irrelevant to credibility.