Codes of Conduct : Credibility judgement and the influence of communication style in cross-cultural interaction

Abstract

The current study examined the influence of an unfamiliar communication style on perceived credibility and guilt in a Norwegian setting. Participants (n= 178) were randomly assigned to one of four different conditions, in a 2 (ethnicity; Norwegian, Non-Norwegian) x2 (statement length; long, short) factorial design. Participants were instructed to read one of two different statements made by an accused narcotics trafficker. One statement included communication characteristics common to the Norwegian language and the second statement included communication characteristics common to the Arabic language. Ethnicity was indicated by the use of a traditionally Norwegian or a traditionally Arabic name. Dependent measures included ratings of perceived credibility and guilt. The results indicate that defendants of a Non-Norwegian background are likely to be perceived as more credible if able to conform to Norwegian language norms. Perceived emotionality was associated with a decrease in guilty-verdicts for the ingroup-member. For the outgroup-member, higher perceived emotionality resulted in lower credibility ratings. Male and female participants differed considerably in terms of assigned scores on all measures: female participants were consistently found to give lower scores when compared to male participants.

Keywords: law; due process; culture; intercultural communication; cognition; stereotype-formation; expectancy violations theory; bias; credibility; judgement