UA cloudflare authentication

 

Does nodding cause contagious agreement?: the influence of juror nodding on perceptions of expert witness testimony

Simple item page
dc.contributorRoskos-Ewoldsen, David R.
dc.contributorCrowther, Martha R.
dc.contributorProhaska, Ariane
dc.contributorSnow, Andrea Lynn
dc.contributor.advisorBrodsky, Stanley L.
dc.contributor.authorSimpson, Jolene Elizabeth
dc.contributor.otherUniversity of Alabama Tuscaloosa
dc.date.accessioned2017-02-28T22:21:56Z
dc.date.available2017-02-28T22:21:56Z
dc.date.issued2009
dc.descriptionElectronic Thesis or Dissertationen_US
dc.description.abstractThe act of head nodding is thought to convey a signal of agreement and approval of a message (Helweg-Larson, Cunningham, Carrico, & Pergram, 2004; Stivers, 2008). Head nodding has also been shown to affect attitude change within an individual when the nodding was continuous at the rate of one nod per second (Wells &amp Petty, 1980; Brinol & Petty, 2003). Nodding may be particularly important in the courtroom environment where jury members can only communicate nonverbally. There are a number of anecdotal accounts of attorneys (Aron, Fast, & Klein, 1996) and expert witnesses looking to the head nodding of jurors as a signal of agreement with their position in a case; and it is often perceived as being an indicator that the juror who nodded will vote in a manner consistent with this position. Although the importance of nodding and the influence that nodding can have on attitude change has been established in the literature, what had not been investigated was the influence of juror nodding on the jurors around them. The present study examined the influence of varied amounts of head nodding by mock jurors on agreement with expert witness testimony and perceptions of expert credibility. The number of individuals instructed to nod was varied (i.e. 15 or 50 percent of individuals), and the jurors were instructed to only nod while the expert was speaking (N = 303). Results showed there were significant effects of nodding on ratings of expert credibility, and marked effects on ratings of agreement with the testimony of the expert, when the nodding was consistently performed. There was no effect of the number of individuals instructed to nod within a condition on the non-nodding participants, but there was an effect on those who had been instructed to nod that was consistent with correcting for perceived bias (Petty & Wegner, 1993). Need for cognition and locus of control variables were also measured. Implications of the study, including a discussion of the effect of changes to previous nodding paradigms, are included.en_US
dc.format.extent139 p.
dc.format.mediumelectronic
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.otheru0015_0000001_0000138
dc.identifier.otherSimpson_alatus_0004D_10178
dc.identifier.urihttps://ir.ua.edu/handle/123456789/645
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.publisherUniversity of Alabama Libraries
dc.relation.hasversionborn digital
dc.relation.ispartofThe University of Alabama Electronic Theses and Dissertations
dc.rightsAll rights reserved by the author unless otherwise indicated.en_US
dc.subjectSocial psychology
dc.titleDoes nodding cause contagious agreement?: the influence of juror nodding on perceptions of expert witness testimonyen_US
dc.typethesis
dc.typetext
etdms.degree.departmentUniversity of Alabama. Department of Psychology
etdms.degree.disciplinePsychology
etdms.degree.grantorThe University of Alabama
etdms.degree.leveldoctoral
etdms.degree.namePh.D.

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
file_1.pdf
Size:
444.3 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download

Collections

Theses and Dissertations
Theses and Dissertations - Department of Psychology