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Public Opinion Quarterly 15:635-650 (1951)
© 1951 American Association for Public Opinion Research
The Influence of Source Credibility on Communication Effectiveness*
Carl I. Hovland is Professor of Psychology at Yale University. Walter Weiss is at the same school
In a new test of the process of forgetting, the authors found that subjects, at the time of exposure, discounted material from "untrustworthy" sources. In time, however, the subjects tended to disassociate the content and the source with the result that the original scepticism faded and the "untrustworthy" material was accepted. Lies, in fact, seemed to be remembered better than truths.
*This study was done as part of a coordinated research project on factors influencing changes in attitude and opinion being conducted at Yale University under a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation. (See Hovland, C I., "Changes in Attitude Through Communication," Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, Vol. 46 (1951,), pp. 424–437.) The writers wish to thank Prof. Ralph E. Turner for making his class available for the study.
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