Is the Influence of Author and Text Scientificness on Trustworthiness Mediated by Lay Readers’ Perceived Scientificness? Preregistration of Hypotheses and Design

In the context of trustworthiness research, previous studies have been able to demonstrate the “Scientificness Effect”, i.e. that lay readers perceive a text adhering to a more scientific discourse style as more credible and that they are more likely to agree with its claims (Bromme et al., 2015; Thomm & Bromme, 2012). Evidence for such an effect was also found in a study on trustworthiness and Plain Language Summaries (PLSs) conducted by the present preregistration’s authors (Jonas et al., in press). Yet, two aspects warrant further examination: First, variations in author scientificness (i.e., via research experience, affiliation, or adherence to quality standards) and in text scientificness (through references, precise method descriptions, and a neutral tone) have rarely been investigated separately. And second, how exactly variations in scientificness influence trustworthiness remains underexamined. We will therefore conduct an online study in which German lay readers will read two PLSs (based on Dobson & Ogolsky, 2022 and Matick et al., 2022) that are systematically varied in terms of author scientificness (high vs. low) and text scientificness (high vs. low). After each text, readers will rate author trustworthiness (expertise, integrity, benevolence) and text trustworthiness separately. Additionally, data on participants’ individual epistemic justification beliefs and need for cognitive closure (NCC, Kruglanski et al., 2010) will be collected. The impact of high vs. low author and text scientificness on trustworthiness will be examined via mixed models. Additionally, mediation models will be computed via mixed model regressions to determine if the relationship between scientificness and trustworthiness is mediated by lay readers’ perceived scientificness of authors or texts. unknown other