ABSTRACT

This study explores the moderating effects that ideological and epistemological beliefs have on the relationship between perceived news source congruency and ratings of news credibility. Findings from an online experiment with a US sample (N = 429) show that news from a perceived ideologically congruent source is seen as being more credible than news from an ideologically incongruent source. Stronger ideological beliefs exacerbate this effect. Epistemological beliefs also moderate this effect. The more that individuals view the nature of knowledge and knowing in certain, black-and-white terms, the more likely they are to rate political news from an ideologically congruent source as credible. On the other hand, the more evaluative that individuals’ views on the nature of knowledge and knowing are, the more likely they are to rate political news from a neutral source as credible. Findings raise normative concerns regarding the ready acceptance of agreeable information yet also point to a potential path toward mitigating this problem: fostering critical, evaluative thinking.

摘要

这项研究探讨了意识形态和认识论信念对知觉的新闻来源一致性和新闻可信度等级之间关系的调节作用。来自美国样本的在线实验的发现（N = 429）表明，从意识形态上一致的来源获得的新闻比在意识形态上不一致的来源获得的新闻更可信。更强的意识形态信念加剧了这种影响。认识论的信念也缓和了这种影响。个人越以特定的黑白方式看待知识和知识的本质，他们就越有可能将来自意识形态上一致的来源的政治新闻评为可信。另一方面，个人对知识和知识性质的看法越能评价，他们越有可能将来自中立来源的政治新闻评为可信。调查结果引起人们对现成接受可接受的信息的规范性关注，但同时也指出了缓解该问题的潜在途径：培养批判性，评估性思维。