Development of Explanations and Repeated Judgments in An Audit

Abstract

Prior research suggests that repeated exposure to a statement or the development of an explanation supporting it increases individuals' belief in the plausibility of that statement. This study extended this research by examining how repetition and development of an explanation jointly affect judgments of a statement's plausibility. In this study, subjects (33 men and 16 women) examined financial information about a company and evaluated the plausibility of a statement regarding the company's financial performance that had been made by the management of that company. Prior to evaluating the statement's plausibility, one-half of the subjects also developed an explanation supporting the statement. Fifteen days later, all subjects reevaluated the plausibility of the statement. 24 subjects who had developed a supporting explanation judged the statement to be more plausible than 25 subjects who had not developed an explanation. However, repeated exposure to the statement did not significantly affect subjects' judgments of plausibility.