When a journalist and politician engage in deception detection: Effects of demeanor, refutation, and partisanship in combative media interviews

Clementson, D. E., & Zhao, W. (AdPR PhD student) (2023, Nov. 16-19). “When a journalist and politician engage in deception detection: Effects of demeanor, refutation, and partisanship in combative media interviews,” paper presentation. National Communication Association 109th Annual Meeting, National Harbor, MD, United States.

Abstract: How do voters decide what to believe when journalists and politicians wage a battle of deception detection? Grounded on truth-default theory, this paper reports experiments with stimuli of political interviews. In Study 1, U.S. voters seem unable to tell if a journalist accurately accuses a politician of deception, and base their perceptions on the politician’s demeanor. In Study 2, when a politician refutes a bogus charge, voters continue attending to demeanor and not verbal message content. Study 3 reveals how partisanship, verbal refutation, and demeanor interact. Democratic voters respond more favorably to their politician refuting a journalist and are not misled by demeanor like Republicans. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.