The Einstein effect: Global evidence for scientific source credibility effects and the influence of religiosity
Abstract
People tend to evaluate information from reliable sources more favourably, but it is unclear exactly how perceivers' worldviews interact with this source credibility effect. In a large and diverse cross-cultural sample (N = 10,195 from 24 countries), we presented participants with obscure, meaningless statements attributed to either a spiritual guru or a scientist. We found a robust global source credibility effect for scientific authorities, which we dub `the Einstein effect': across all 24 countries scientists hold greater authority than spiritual source, even among highly committed religious people, who are relatively also more credulous of nonsense from scientists than they are of nonsense from spiritual gurus. Additionally, individual religiosity predicted a weaker relative preference for the statement from the scientist vs. the spiritual guru, and was more strongly associated with credibility judgments for the guru than the scientist. Independent data on explicit trust ratings across 143 countries mirrored the experimental patterns. These findings suggest that irrespective of religious worldview, science is a powerful and universal heuristic that signals the reliability of information.
Authors 25
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Suzanne Hoogeveen corresponding
Affiliation as printed
University of Amsterdam
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Affiliation as printed
University of Amsterdam
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Victoria University of Wellington
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Victoria University of Wellington
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Affiliation as printed
Macquarie University
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Royal Holloway University of London
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Royal Holloway, University of London
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Institut Jean Nicod
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Aarhus University
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Vilnius University
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University of Haifa
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University of Padova
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Babes-Bolyai University
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Brunel University London
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Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Affiliation as printed
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
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Rikkyo University · University of Oxford
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Rikkyo University
University of Oxford
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Affiliation as printed
Macquarie University
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Adolfo Ibáñez University
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Nanyang Technological University
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Nanyang Technological University
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Universidade de Brasília
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James Cook University
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University of Amsterdam
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University of Oxford
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Catholic University of Louvain
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Affiliation as printed
University of Amsterdam
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Affiliation as printed
University of Connecticut
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Michiel van Elk Aachen
Affiliation as printed
Leiden University
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