Evidence Based Persuasion: Effects of Speaker Description, Gender, and Evidence Type on Perceptions of Warmth and Competence (2015)

Undergraduates: Meredith Griffin, Jenna Clark

Faculty Advisor: Nicole Heilbron
Department: Psychology & Neuroscience

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Should scientific information or narrative stories be used to convey public health information? Previous studies show conflicting results about which type of evidence is preferred (De Wit, Das, & Vet, 2008; Kopfman, Smith, Ah Yun, & Hodges,1998). This study explores how evidence type, descriptions of the speaker, and speakers¿¿¿ gender influence perceptions of warmth and competence. Participants were recruited through Amazon's MTurk for two studies, which manipulated vignettes about Genetically Modified Foods. In Study 1, the speaker, Mary, was labeled as a scientist, a mother of two, or no label and she presented either statistical or narrative information, resulting in a 2x3 ANOVA design. In Study 2, the speaker's gender was manipulated, Mark or Mary, and each presented either statistical or narrative information, resulting in a 2x2 ANOVA design. Results indicate that statistical information is significantly associated with perceptions of competence and narrative information is significantly associated with perceptions of warmth, consistent with previous findings (Fiske, Cuddy, & Glick, 2007). Results further indicate a weak association between gender of the speaker, evidence type, and perceptions of warmth ( F=3.707; p= .056). This supports women and warmth stereotype (Ebert, Steffens, & Kroth, 2014). Future studies should explore how the speaker should be described and how the message should be tailored to cause the most attitude change.