Anecdotally, attributions that others are biased pervade many domains. Yet, research examining the effects of perceptions of bias is sparse, possibly due to some prior researchers conflating bias with untrustworthiness. We sought to demonstrate that perceptions of bias and untrustworthiness are separable and have independent effects. The current work examines these differences in the persuasion domain, but this distinction has implications for other domains as well. Two experiments clarify the conceptual distinction between bias (skewed perception) and untrustworthiness (dishonesty) and three studies demonstrate that source bias can have a negative effect on persuasion and source credibility beyond any parallel effects of untrustworthiness, lack of expertise, and dislikability. The current work suggests that bias is an independent, but understudied source characteristic.
Previous work has reliably demonstrated that when people experience more subjective ambivalence about an attitude object, their attitudes have less impact on strength-related outcomes such as attitude-related thinking, judging, or behaving. However, previous research has not considered whether the amount of perceived knowledge a person has about the topic might moderate these effects. Across eight studies on different topics using a variety of outcome measures, the current research demonstrates that perceived knowledge can moderate the relation between ambivalence and the impact of attitudes on related thinking, judging, and behaving. Although the typical Attitude × Ambivalence effect emerged when participants had relatively high perceived knowledge, this interaction did not emerge when participants were lower in perceived knowledge. This work provides a more nuanced view of the effects of subjective ambivalence on attitude impact and highlights the importance of understanding the combined impact of attitude strength antecedents.
This study examined whether single-gender or mixed-gender PE lessons were more conducive to increasing the physical activity levels of girls. One hundred and twenty girls (12–15 years) wore a wGT3x+ActiGraph accelerometer while participating in basketball games. Time spent in low (LPA), moderate (MPA), vigorous (VPA), and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were compared between a single-gender and mixed-gender PE lesson. Perceived effort and enjoyment of each lesson were also captured using a three-point scale following the intervention. Girls were found to spend significantly more time in MVPA ( p = 0.01) and VPA ( p = 0.006) in the single-gender environment. Furthermore, girls spent significantly less time in LPA ( p = 0.014). Although girls believed that their effort did not alter with the addition of boys, they did show a preference for taking part in a single-gender environment. Results of this study suggest that segregating PE classes for game-based activities could lead girls to achieve greater health benefits through a higher level of activity.
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