Everyday dynamics of media skepticism and credibility: An ambulatory assessment study

Abstract

Within this chapter we attempt to clarify (1) whether media skepticism and information credibility are rather stable or transient variables and (2) the causal relationship between generalized attitudes towards the media (media skepticism) and more specific evaluations of news items (credibility). We conducted an ambulatory assessment study to measure everyday media consumption and investigate short-term dynamics as well as the relationship between credibility and media skepticism. Results indicate that information credibility is a rather transient variable, depending on the situation, while media skepticism is more stable across different measurement occasions. Moreover, our findings show that credibility judgments are generalized to attitudes towards the media as a whole and, vice versa, media skepticism determines specific trust judgments in a mutual relationship.