Shoot the Messenger : Changes in Evaluations of Scientific Information as a Function of Messenger Identity

Abstract

Research on cognitive biases has shown that humans are not impartial, objective receivers of information. In the current studies, we investigate the degree to which individuals’ evaluations of scientific information are biased by the identity of the messenger who provides the information. We hypothesized that messenger identity affects participants’ opinions of the messenger’s credibility, the messenger’s intent, the quality of the information, and participants’ own desire to share or censor the information.