Interpersonal Trust and Attributions of Source Credibility: Evaluations of a Political Figure in a Crisis

Abstract

The events surrounding the Watergate affair “Saturday Night Massacre” provided a setting in which to assess (a) the applicability of the Jones and Davis acts-to-dispositions model of the attribution process in subjects' perceptions and evaluations of a key political figure in crisis (President Nixon), (b) the role of subjects' interpersonal trust on their attributions and evaluations, and (c) the utility of Giffin's proposed five factors of credibility of a source. The results supported the hypothesis that (a) behaviors, intentions, and dispositional attributions would be different but related factors and (b) out-of-role intentions would be more predictive than in-role intentions of dispositional attributions. Partial support was found for the hypothesis that high trusters would perceive the President and his behaviors more favorably than low trusters (they attributed less negative intentions and attributed more favorable evaluative and expertness-activity dispositions). Although high and low trusters apparently perceived the President's behavior similarly, they drew different inferences. Evidence for collapsing Giffin's five factors regarding credibility of a source into two, Evaluation and Expertness-Activity, was provided.