Veen, Daan van der (2025) The effect of moral grandstanding on perceived credibility. Bachelor thesis, Psychology.
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Abstract
This study examined the effect of moral grandstanding, public moral expression aimed at enhancing one’s status, on the perceived credibility of an online commenter and whether this effect was moderated by the observer agreeing or disagreeing with the topic. Two hypotheses were tested, namely whether moral grandstanding reduces perceived credibility and whether this negative effect is less pronounced when the reader agrees with the topic. A between-subjects design was used where 148 participants were randomly assigned to read a comment advocating for genetic modification that either contained manifestations of grandstanding or not. Participants first rated their agreement with genetic modification, then were randomly exposed to one of the two conditions and then rated their perceived credibility of the commenter. The results supported the first hypothesis, the commenter who engaged in moral grandstanding was rated as significantly less credible than the one that did not. The second hypothesis was not supported, agreement with the topic did not moderate the relationship between moral grandstanding and perceived credibility. Interestingly, agreement did increase perceived credibility independent from moral grandstanding. Agreement may not protect against negative evaluations caused by grandstanding since grandstanding may override the effect of agreement on perceived credibility. This research suggests that moral grandstanding can diminish perceived credibility, regardless of whether the audience agrees with the grandstander. This has implications for public discourse where audiences might value authenticity and genuine moral concern more than performative displays used to enhance one’s status.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Bachelor) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Meerholz, E.W. and Kuppens, T. |
| Degree programme: | Psychology |
| Differentiation route: | None [Bachelor Psychology] |
| Date Deposited: | 08 Jul 2025 11:55 |
| Last Modified: | 08 Jul 2025 11:55 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/5362 |
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