Credibility comprises the objective and subjective components of the believability of a source or message. Credibility is deemed essential in many fields to establish expertise. It plays a crucial role in journalism, teaching, science, medicine, business leadership, and social media.
Aristotle defines rhetoric as the ability to see what is possibly persuasive in every situation. He divided the means of persuasion into three categories, namely Ethos (the source's credibility), Pathos (the emotional or motivational appeals), and Logos (the logic used to support a claim), which he believed have the capacity to influence the receiver of a message. According to Aristotle, the term "Ethos" deals with the character of the speaker. The intent of the speaker is to appear credible. In fact, the speaker's ethos is a rhetorical strategy employed by an orator whose purpose is to "inspire trust in his audience".
Credibility has two key components: trustworthiness and expertise, which both have objective and subjective components. Trustworthiness is based more on subjective factors, but can include objective measurements such as established reliability. Expertise can be similarly subjectively perceived, but also includes relatively objective characteristics of the source or message (e.g., credentials, certification or information quality).Flanagin and Metzger (2008), Digital media and youth: Unparalleled opportunity and unprecedented responsibility. In J. Metzger, & A. Flanagin (editors), Digitaingl media, youth, and credibility (pp. 5–28). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. Secondary components of credibility include source dynamism (charisma) and physical attractiveness.
In journalism
According to the Society of Professional Journalists' code of ethics, professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist's credibility. A journalist's number one obligation is to be honest.
According to Gallup polls, Americans' confidence in the mass media has been consistently declining each year since 2007.
In 2013, a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press found that credibility ratings for major news organizations are at or near their all-time lows.
"As audiences lose confidence in traditional news outlets, many see great promise in the Internet as a response to this crisis in journalism."HEFLIN, K. (2015). The Internet Is Not the Antidote. Journalism History, 41(3), 165–175.
Three aspects of credibility: clarity (how easily the article can be understood), accuracy (how well documented the information is), and trustworthiness (how believable the information is).Mosier, N. R., Ahlgren, A. (1981). Credibility of Precision Journalism. Journalism Quarterly, 58(3), 375–518.
In teaching Students' perception of instructors has great importance and possible consequences. Instructor credibility, which is defined as "the attitude of a receiver which references the degree to which a source is seen to be believable",McCroskey, J. C. (1998). An introduction to communication in the classroom (2nd ed.).Acton, MA: Tapestry Press. consists of three dimensions-, competence, character, and caring.Teven, J. J., McCroskey, J. C. (1997). The relationship of perceived teacher caring with student learning and teacher evaluation. Communication Education, 46, 1–9. Competence focuses on their expertise or knowledge in a subject matter. Character refers to the "goodness" (i.e., honesty, trustworthiness) of an instructor.Frymier, A. B., & Thompson, C. A. (1992). Perceived teacher affinity-seeking in relation to perceived teacher credibility. Communication Education, 41, 388–399. Caring focuses on whether the instructor shows concern or empathy for the students' welfare or situation. Although an instructor may show one or two of these qualities, the best and most respected exude all three qualities. A study done by Atkinson and Cooper revealed that students who are taught by an instructor perceive as credible, results in extreme allegiance to those instructors.
Generally, instructors who are perceived to have credibility are associated with effective teaching skills. Instructors who demonstrate competence, character, and/or caring are perceived to engage in a variety of effective instructional communication behaviors such as argumentativeness,Schrodt, P. (2003). Students' appraisals of instructors as a function of students' perceptions of instructors' aggressive communication. Communication Education, 52, 106–121. verbal and nonverbal immediacy,Johnson, S. D., Miller, A. N. (2002). A cross-cultural study of immediacy, credibility, and learning in the U.S. and Kenya. Communication Education, 51, 280–292. affinity seeking, and assertiveness and responsiveness.Martin, M. M., Chesebro, J. L., Mottet, T. P. (1997). Students' perceptions of instructors' socio-communicative style and the influence on instructor credibility and situational motivation. Communication Research Reports, 14, 431-44i0. Moreover, credible instructors are perceived to be low in verbal aggressivenessMartin, M. M., Weber, K., Burant, P. A. (1997, April). Students' perceptions of a teacher's use of slang and verbal aggressiveness in a lecture: An experiment. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Eastern Communication Association, Baltimore, MD. and less likely to use behaviors that interfere with student learning.Thweatt, K. S., McCroskey, J. C. (1998). The impact of teacher immediacy and misbehaviors on teacher credibility. Communication Education, 47, 348–358.
Unlike instructor competence which centers on instructors' perceived expertise, instructor character and caring are rooted in students' perceptions of their instructors' interpersonal communication behaviors. Students can feel more connected to the material being taught and have the information stay in their mind, if the instructor sharing the information has credibility. According to studies, when instructors exemplify the qualities of character (i.e., kind, virtuous, good) and caring (i.e., empathetic, understanding, responsive), students report a greater likelihood of communicating with them.Myers, S. A. (2004). The Relationship between Perceived Instructor Credibility and College Student In-class and Out-of-class Communication. Communication Reports, 17(2), 129–137. .
Teachers who are concerned with whether students communicate with them, either in class or out of class, may want to reconsider the role their own in-class communication behaviors play in students' willingness or likelihood to communicate with them. Instructors who are interested in how students perceive their competence, character, and caring should examine how their in-class communication behaviors contribute to these perceptions. They can evaluate themselves, go back over their lectures, scores that students give them at the end of the semester, and seek advice and training from their peers. By doing so, instructors may find students are more willing, likely, or interested in communicating with them.
In science
Scientific credibility has been defined as the extent to which science in general is recognized as a source of reliable information about the world. The term has also been applied more narrowly, as an assessment of the credibility of the work of an individual scientist or a field of research. Here, the phrase refers to how closely the work in question adheres to scientific principles, such as the scientific method. The method most commonly used to assess the quality of science is peer review and then publication as part of the scientific literature. Other approaches include the collaborative assessment of a topic by a group of experts, this process can produce reviews such as those published by the Cochrane Collaboration,What is a Cochrane review. The Cochrane Collaboration, Accessed 5 January 2009. or the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The 2008 credibility article written by Peter Alagona highlights that, "In environmental science, credibility is one of the most referenced yet the least comprehended concepts." This lack of understanding is due to the public often confusing credibility with trust because of shared characteristics, such as reliability and dependability. To be credible in the scientific field, researchers are to demonstrate expertise, reliability and objectivity, through methods such as peer and systematic review, and experimental studies. Alagona states that "the credibility of scientific research shapes the public's trust and influence policies." Therefore, scientific credibility means that when research is seen as trustworthy, it can shape various rules and regulations. This reinforces the public's trust, belief, and acceptance, as these guidelines are based on credible scientific findings.
The general public can give a great deal of weight to perceptions of scientific authority in their decisions on controversial issues that involve scientific research, such as biotechnology. However, both the credibility and authority of science is questioned by groups with non-mainstream views, such as some advocates of alternative medicine, or those who dispute the scientific consensus on a topic, such as denialists of AIDS. Political endorsements can reduce non-partisan scientific credibility.
In medicine People rely on doctors' expertise to respond to issues relating to their health. Trust in a doctor's credibility is essential to a patient's health: depending on the patient's trust in the doctor they will be more or less willing to seek help, reveal sensitive information, submit to treatment, and follow the doctor's recommendations.Hall, M. A., Camacho, F., Dugan, E., Balkrishnan, R. (2002). Trust in the Medical Profession: Conceptual and Measurement Issues. Health Services Research, 37(5), 1419–1439. .
According to a New England Journal of Medicine study, 94% of American doctors have some relationship with a drug or medical device company, including payments but also drug samples and industry lunches, for example.A National Survey of Physician–Industry Relationships Eric G. Campbell, PhD, Russell L. Gruen, M.D., PhD, James Mountford, M.D., Lawrence G. Miller, M.D., Paul D. Cleary, PhD, David Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.P. A National Survey of Physician–Industry Relationships. N. Engl. J. Med. 2007; 356:1742–1750. 26 April 2007. . Such alarming evidence is what has prompted a growing mistrust in medical professionals' credibility. Despite the studies conducted intended on finding out how to increase doctors' credibility, the findings are inconclusive. It is a strong general consensus that increased visibility of the relationship between doctors and pharmaceutical companies is the first place to start.
The Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication published a study that "perceived credibility of online information" to grasp an understanding about how knowledge of a topic and a source expertise establish credibility to access online healthcare data. The results of this study divide expertise into three levels. Utilizing online health information that is free of bias and includes the qualifications and background of the author or organization would be considered credible. Additionally, having high numbers of citation and peer-reviewed sources support credibility. These factors together would be level 1, which is a highly rated source. Missing a high number of citations and peer-reviewed sources results in a level 2 grade, which is considered a moderate source. Failure to meet any criteria of these would classify the source as a level 3, which is not an expert source and should be avoided. To assess these levels, one can check if a source meets the mentioned requirements, as it is the public's decision. Furthermore, using academic resources such as Google Scholar and JSTOR can be used verify the credibility of an online source.
On the street