The effect of homosexuality on perceptions of persuasiveness and trustworthiness

J. Cesario, I. Crawford

This study investigated the effect of sexual orientation on perceptions of persuasiveness and trustworthiness. Subjects were told that a university was considering adding either an International Studies minor or a Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Studies minor to its curriculum. Subjects then viewed a videotape of a male professor, introduced as either homosexual or heterosexual, speaking about the benefits of the proposal. Following the video, ratings of the speaker_s trustworthiness and persuasiveness were assessed. Results indicate that the speaker_s sexual orientation alone did not have a significant effect on either of these ratings. However, a significant interaction occurred between the speaker_s sexual orientation and the speech topic, indicating that subjects expressed especially low levels of trustworthiness when the homosexual speaker was lecturing on the GLB minor. Regression analyses revealed that subjects_ attitudes toward homosexuals were a significant predictor of their judgements of the speaker_s trustworthiness.KEYWORDS. Trust, trustworthiness, persuasion, persuasiveness, knowledge bias, reporting bias, source factors, Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM),heterosexism, gay and lesbian studies, homosexuality[Copies are available from: Haworth Document Delivery Center. The Haworth Press, Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580, USA]