Both rhetorical theorists and attitude change theorists agree that characteristics of the source of persuasive communication can improve the persuasiveness of that message. Writers from both perspectives have approached this notion from two divergent perspectives. Isocrates was concerned with the speaker's prior reputation, which is quite similar…

An important influence on a presidential candidate's debating style, the "incumbency factor," has been largely ignored by researchers. An analysis of the argumentative style of incumbents, based on the 1976 and 1980 presidential debates, has isolated three distinguishing characteristics: (1) presidential incumbents tend to avoid extended…

A 1981 survey of public relations teachers revealed two primary ethical concerns of their students: relationships with employers or clients and deliberate distortion of information. A study analyzed nine textbooks and three books of selected readings to determine the extent to which they exposed students to the concept of the public relations…

A study was conducted to determine the effects of mildly self-disparaging humor on audiences' perceptions when it is used by speakers perceived to be of differing credibility (ethos) levels. Responses by 27 students who were potential subjects of the experiment were used to construct a credibility scale. The most credible speaker, a university…

A study sought answers for seven questions about the public's orientation toward television news. Television interviews were conducted with 823 adult residents of Dane County, Wisconsin, during October 1983 by trained graduate students and advanced undergraduates as part of a communications research methods course. Results showed that the public…

The role of press secretary has attained a new significance during the past ten years because of presidential efforts to concentrate the focus of news on the White House. Originally intended to serve the public, the press secretary is now an important government official who not only conveys information but also explains and defends presidential…

Explores methods of developing resistance to persuasion by extending the principles and techniques of attitude change. Implications for future research are noted. (MH)

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether, when both listener and speaker are unknown to one another, listeners of each sex do or do not tend to differentially evaluate presentations by speakers according to sex; results were then compared to those of earlier studies in which the women being judged were hypothetical authors. A group of…

Three exploratory studies were aimed at describing the purposes of lies and the consequences of lying. Data were collected through a partly open-ended questionnaire, a content analysis of several tape-recorded interviews, and a large-scale survey. The results showed that two of every three lies were told for selfish reasons, while three of every…

Four hundred fifty subjects at Texas A&M University provided data, through self-administered questionnaires, to evaluate the influence on readers of qualifying statements regarding technical performance claims in magazine advertisements. Each respondent was exposed to a single treatment by viewing one of 30 versions of mock magazine…

A study was conducted to determine how people react to unnamed or veiled news sources in newspaper articles. A group of 283 persons, chosen at random from three contrasting communities, was asked to read two articles dealing with different topics, one with sources quoted by name and one with euphemisms ("a White House spokesman,""a…

This study attempts to determine if general principles of effective communication may be defined, if certain principles may be seen as central to the judgment of an individual's effectiveness, and if such principles of effective communication can affect perceptions of effective and ineffective communicators. Respondents to a 60-item questionnaire…

A study utilizing source credibility and homophily as a basis for analysis was designed to examine the conceptualization of the ideal political candidate. In addition, this conceptualization was examined across selected voter characteristics to determine if it varied on that basis. Questionnaires were administered to 390 college students to…

This study explores the dimensions of credibility in newspaper and television news and compares the dimensions of media credibility with those of interpersonal source credibility. Subjects, 401 Kent State University undergraduates, were given a 12-page questionnaire designed to assess attitudes toward the following: newspaper national and…

Because much conjecture (but limited empirical research) exists about the nonverbal variable to time, this exploratory study investigated the effects of differential arrival times on four dimensions of source credibility: sociability, dynamism, competence, and composure. Subjects were 84 educational secretaries with a mean age of 49 years. Each…