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Source Credibility and the Language of Expert Testimony 1
Author(s) -
Hurwitz Steven D.,
Miron Murray S.,
Johnson Blair T.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1992.tb01530.x
Subject(s) - credibility , persuasion , expert witness , psychology , objectivity (philosophy) , source credibility , trustworthiness , witness , parallels , social psychology , perception , law , epistemology , political science , engineering , mechanical engineering , philosophy , neuroscience
In an examination of the language used by expert witnesses during actual courtroom testimony, it was expected that experts who exhibited content themes related to their credentials or experience ( expertise ) and to objectivity ( trustworthiness ) would be perceived as being more credible. Forty‐three segments of expert testimony were taken from actual court transcripts and content analyzed. Two‐factor analytically derived factors predicted expert witness membership into low‐ and high‐credibility groups, defined a priori by credibility judgments of undergraduate raters ( n = 348). These factors were (a) the use of passive voice and (b) the witnesses' background and qualifications. Further analyses revealed that perceptions of expert witness credibility were also a function of the usage of words that connote power (an expert's official status, degree of prominence and/or recognition) or negative (suffering or damage). Results are discussed in terms of dimensions of source credibility and their parallels to past research in persuasion.