I’m curious to gather thoughts on this matter of what makes people more credible or less credible.
I believe that there are several factors, both learned and preconceived, regarding a person that will affect how you perceive their input. What I mean is, you can hear the same thing from two different strangers, but you will be more inclined to listen/believe one person instead of the other because of various factors.
These factors work together to create degrees of Instinctual Credibility. What exactly are these factors?
1. Sexual Attraction – If the person is sexually attractive to you or has prominent sensual features, this increases the amount of attention that you pay to them.
2. Stature – If someone’s height, facial expression or musculature intimidates you, calms you, or puts you off, this will affect the effect of the words coming from their mouth.
3. Dress – A guy in a t-shirt and jeans will sound different than a man in a uniform. A well-dressed individual will command more authority and will more easily persuade than a bohemian hippy.
After the initial reaction comes the learned factors. Information, tone of voice, tact, these all go towards how you take the information in. However, the instinctual credibility is the barrier that allows the information to even be heard the way it should be.
Taking that a step further, if you know something about the person before you meet them (perhaps someone has talked about them before you met them) how much does that affect how you perceive them? If you’re a female and your friend told you about how good her boyfriend is in bed, would that make you more receptive to his conversation when you finally get to meet him? If your buddy bitches and rags on someone, how will that affect you when you finally meet that person.
The saintly thing to say is that none of that affects you. You form your own opinions based on what you perceive, right? Will someone admit to being affected to preconceived notions or am I barking up a tree that does not exist?
There have been studies on Instinctual Credibility. We know that a person in uniform can make people do more than a person in plain clothes can. We know that a highly sexual person can make people do more than a detestable person can. We also know there are exceptions to the rule. Still, do we recognize how we are affected by these instincts within us?
This entire thought has been brought to you by the notion that if my wife tells her friends that I have a big penis, they’d pay more attention to me when I meet them. The ones that she told, did in fact pay more attention, and have wandering eyes toward my nether regions. More so, than those she did not mention it to. The truth to the matter as to whether I have a large penis is still up for discussion between the wife and I. For some reason, she doesn’t believe me when I tell her that the peni she sees in porn are fake. They don’t get that big in real life. 