Amanda Crosby, “Willingness to Follow Advice Based on Expert Testimony”
Mentor: Christopher Lawson, Educational Psychology
Poster #43

Individuals can only have extensive knowledge in one or two specific areas and rely on experts for information in all other realms. An example of this is if our car breaks down and since we most likely have little to no expertise in this field, we rely on what the mechanic says is necessary to fix the car. What makes a person decide the degree advice from experts is believable and reasonable? The first hypothesis for this study is if the advice is presented in a believable way, the participant would rank it to be more trustworthy than if it was presented in an unbelievable way. The second hypothesis for this study is if the participant feels they are a member in the area of a topic, they will be more likely to follow the advice of experts from such areas. Three-hundred participants will complete an online survey that includes a number of expert testimonies. The data will be collected and analyzed. The prediction is that the results will show that individuals will be more willing to follow advice when it is presented in a believable way and even more if they feel they are a member of the community of knowledge. If an individual has no knowledge about the areas, it is predicted that they will be more critical towards the advice presented to them.