Cover not available
Article published In:
Strategic Communication: Beyond nation cultural adaption, images and identity
Edited by Hassan Abu Bakar and Bahtiar Bin Mohamad
[Journal of Asian Pacific Communication 28:1] 2018
► pp. 83–106

The vicarious and source credibility grid across cultures

| Universidad de Valladolid
| University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

The manuscript offers an expansion of a traditional view of source credibility based on evaluation of a message source with inclusion of vicarious credibility (evaluation by members of a social network). The move reflects the need to consider differing cultural perspectives on how a message source might become evaluated. Data from 1,149 participants (US, Spanish, Japanese) identify vicarious and source credibility as significantly different. Classification results from discriminant analysis, where vicarious and source become a single function to create new grounds for cross-cultural communication research. The new paradigm requires the examination of both vicarious credibility in conjunction with source credibility that produce a credibility grid.

Keywords: credibility, vicarious, source, intercultural, cross-cultural
Article outline
  • Developments of credibility
  • Vicarious and source credibility orientations
  • Influence of culture
  • Credibility grid evaluations
    • Positioned credibility
    • Earned credibility
    • Recessive credibility
    • Monitored credibility
    • Dynamic credibility
  • Hypotheses
  • Method
    • Participants
    • Instruments
    • Statistical analysis
  • Results
    • Test 1: Model
      • United States
      • Spain
      • Japan
    • Test 2: Function
      • United States
      • Spain
      • Japan
    • Test Three: Classification
      • United States
      • Spain
      • Japan
    • Across cultures
      • Test 1: Model
      • Test 2: Function
        • Correlation analysis
      • Test three: Classification
  • Discussion
  • Limitations
  • Conclusion
  • References
Published online: 19 January 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/japc.00005.dil
References
Applbaum, R. F., & Anatol, K. W.
(1972) The Factor Structure of Source Credibility as a Function of the Speaking Situation. Speech Monographs, 39(3), 216–22. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Applbaum, R. L., & Anatol, K. W. E.
(1973) Dimensions of source credibility: A test for reproducibility. Speech Monographs, 401, 231–237. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Aristotle
(1932) The Rhetoric (translated by Lane Cooper). New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.Google Scholar
Bacon, C. C., & Severson, M. L.
(1986) Assertiveness, responsiveness, and versatility as predictors of leadership emergence. Communication Research Reports, 31, 53–59.Google Scholar
Berger, C. R., & Clatterbuck, G. W.
(1976) Attitude similarity and attributional information as determinants of uncertainty reduction and interpersonal attraction. Paper presented at the International Communication Association, Portland, OR.
Berlo, D. K., & Lemert, J. B.
(1961) “A factor analytic study of the dimension of source credibility.” Paper presented at the Speech Association of America National Convention, New York.
Brashers, D. E.
(2001) Communication and uncertainty management. Journal of Communication, 511, 477–497. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Brogan, S. M., Jowi, D., McCroskey, J. C., & Wrench, J. S.
(2008) Social communication apprehension: The intersection of communication apprehension and social phobia. Human Communication, 111, 409–430.Google Scholar
Cocroft, B. K., & Ting-Toomey, S.
(1994) Facework in Japan and the United States. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 181, 469–506. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Corral, S., & Calvete, E.
(2000) Machiavellianism: Dimensionality of the Mach IV and its relation to self-monitoring in a Spanish sample. Spanish Journal of Psychology, 31, 3–13. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Daly, J. A., & McCroskey, J. C.
(1984) Avoiding communication: Shyness, reticence, and communication apprehension. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Dainton, M., & Aylor, B.
(2001) A relational uncertainty analysis of jealousy, trust, and maintenance in long‐distance versus geographically close relationships. Communication Quarterly, 491, 172–188. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dilbeck, K. E.
(2008) Communication competence and rhetorical sensitivity: A test of conceptual convergence. Unpublished Master’s thesis, Bangkok University.Google Scholar
(2013, November). “Cross-cultural expectancies for U.S. teachers working in Pacific and Southeast Asian cultures: A theoretical analysis of teacher source credibility,” Paper presented at the National Communication Association 99th National Convention, Washington DC.
Dilbeck, K. E., Dominguez, A., Dornaletetxe, J., McMurrich, M., & Allen, M.
(2013) Instructor Source Credibility: A Cross-cultures Examination. In J. E. Aitken (Ed.), Cases on communication technology for second language acquisition and cultural learning (pp. 24–57). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.Google Scholar
Dilbeck, K. E., & McCroskey, J. C.
(2009) Socio-communicative orientation, communication competence, and rhetorical sensitivity. Human Communication, 121, 255–266.Google Scholar
Dilbeck, K. E., McCroskey, J. C., Richmond, V. P., & McCroskey, L. L.
(2009) Self-perceived communication competence in the Thai culture. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 381, 1–7. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Duran, R. L., & Kelly, L.
(1988) The influence of communication competence on perceived task, social, and physical attraction. Communication Quarterly, 361, 41–49. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fink, Gerhard, Kölling, Marcus, Neyer, Anne-Katrin
(2005) The cultural standard method. EI Working Papers / Europainstitut, 62. Europainstitut, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, Vienna.Google Scholar
Finn, A. N., Schrodt, P., Witt, P. L., Elledge, N., Jernberg, K. A., & Larson, L. M.
(2009) A meta-analytic review of teacher credibility and its associations with teacher behaviors and student outcomes. Communication Education, 581, 516–537. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gao, G.
(1996) ‘Self and Other: A Chinese Perspective on Interpersonal Relationships’, In W. B. Gudykunst, S. Ting-Toomey and T. Nishida (eds) Communication in Personal Relationships across Cultures (pp. 81–101). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Gudykunst, W. B., Matsumoto, Y., Ting-Toomey, S., Nishida, T., Kim, K., & Heyman, S.
(1996) The influence of cultural individualism‐collectivism, self-construals, and individual values on communication styles across cultures. Human communication research, 221, 510–543. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gudykunst, W. B., Ting-Toomey, S., & Chua, E.
(1988) Culture and interpersonal communication. Newberry, CA. Sage.Google Scholar
Harnish, R. J., & Bridges, R. K.
(2006) Social influence: the role of self-monitoring when making social comparisons. Psychology & Marketing, 231, 961–973. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hofstede, G.
(1980) Culture’s consequences. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Hofstede, G., & Bond, M. H.
(1984) Hofstede’s Culture Dimensions: An independent validation using Rokeach’s value survey. Journal of Cross-cultural Psychology, 151, 417–433. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1988) The Confucius connection: from cultural roots to economic growth. Organizational Dynamics, 161, 4–21. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hovland, C. I., & Weiss, W.
(1951) The influence of source credibility on communication effectiveness. Public Opinion Quarterly, 151, 635–650. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hui, C. H., & Villareal, M. J.
(1989) Individualism-Collectivism and Psychological Needs Their Relationships in Two Cultures. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 201, 310–323. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Infante, D. A.
(1980) The construct validity of semantic differential scales for the measurement of source credibility. Communication Quarterly, 281, 19–45. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jensen-Campbell, L. A., Adams, R., Perry, D. G., Workman, K. A., Furdella, J. Q., & Egan, S. K.
(2002) Agreeableness, extraversion, and peer relations in early adolescence: Winning friends and deflecting aggression. Journal of Research in Personality, 361, 224–251. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kang, K. W., & Pearce, W. B.
(1984) The place of transcultural concept in communication theory and research, with a case study of reticence. Communication, 91, 79–96.Google Scholar
Kim, M. S., & Sharkey, W. F.
(1995) Independent and interdependent construals of self: Explaining cultural patterns of interpersonal communication in multi‐cultural organizational settings. Communication Quarterly, 431, 20–38. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Knutson, T. J., & Posirisuk, S.
(2006) Thai relational development and rhetorical sensitivity as potential contributors to intercultural communication effectiveness: JAI YEN YEN. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 351, 205–217. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lim, T. S., Kim, S. Y., & Kim, J.
(2011) Holism: A Missing Link in Individualism-Collectivism Research. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 401, 21–38. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lonnox, R. D., & Wolfe, R. N.
(1984) Revision of the self-monitoring scale. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 461, 349–364.Google Scholar
Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S.
(1991) Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review; Psychological Review, 981, 224–253. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
McCroskey, J. C.
(1966) Scales for the measurement of ethos. Speech Monographs, 331, 65–72. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1970) Measures of communication-bound anxiety. Speech Monographs, 371, 269–277. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
McCroskey, J. C. & Teven, J. J.
(1999) Goodwill: a reexamination of the construct and its measurement. Communication Monographs, 661, 90–103. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
McCroskey, J. C., & Young, T. J.
(1981) Ethos and credibility: The construct and its measurement after three decades. Communication Studies, 321, 24–34. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
McCroskey, J. C.
(2006) An Introduction to Rhetorical Communication: A western cultural perspective – 9th edition. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.Google Scholar
McCroskey, L. L., McCroskey, J. C., & Richmond, V. P.
(2006) Analysis and improvement of the measurement of interpersonal attraction and homophily. Communication Quarterly, 541, 1–31. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mehrabian, A.
(1971) Silent messages. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.Google Scholar
(1981) Silent messages: Implicit communication of emotion and attitude. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.Google Scholar
Moemeka, A. A.
(1998) Communalism as a fundamental dimension of culture. Journal of Communication, 481, 118–141. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Neuliep, J. W.
(2003) Intercultural communication: A contextual approach (2nd ed.). Boston: Houghton-Mifflin. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2009) Intercultural Communication: A contextual approach. Los Angeles: Sage Publication.Google Scholar
Oetzel, J. G.
(1998) Explaining individual communication processes in homogeneous and heterogeneous groups through individualism ‐collectivism and self‐ construal. Human Communication Research, 25(2), 202–224. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Oetzel, J. G., Ting-Toomey, S.
(2003) Face Concerns in Interpersonal Conflict: A Cross-Cultural Empirical Test of the Face Negotiation Theory, 30(6), 599–624. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Oyserman, D., Coon, H. M., & Kemmelmeier, M.
(2002) Rethinking individualism and collectivism: evaluation of theoretical assumptions and meta-analyses. Psychological bulletin, 1281, 3–72. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Richmond, V. P., & McCroskey, J. C.
(1995) Communication: Apprehension, avoidance, and effectiveness. Scottsdale, AZ: Gorsuch Scarisbrick.Google Scholar
Sidanius, J., & Pratto, F.
(1999) Social dominance: An intergroup theory of social hierarchy and oppression. New York: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Snavely, W. B., & Walters, E. V.
(1983) Differences in communication competence among administrator social styles. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 111, 120–135. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Snyder, M.
(1974) Self-monitoring of expressive behavior. Journal of personality and social psychology, 301, 526–537. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1987) Public appearances, private realities: The psychology of self-monitoring. WH Freeman/Times Books/Henry Holt & Co.Google Scholar
Suls, J. M., & Fletcher, B.
(1983) Social comparison in the social and physical sciences: An archival study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 441, 575–580. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ting-Toomey, S.
(2012) Communicating across cultures. Guilford Press.Google Scholar
(2005) The matrix of face: An updated face-negotiation theory. Theorizing about intercultural communication (pp. 71–92). London: Sage.Google Scholar
Triandis, H. C., Leung, K., Villareal, M. J., & Clack, F. I.
(1985) Allocentric versus idiocentric tendencies: Convergent and discriminant validation. Journal of Research in personality, 191, 395–415. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Trubisky, P., Ting-Toomey, S., & Lin, S. L.
(1991) The influence of individualism-collectivism and self-monitoring on conflict styles. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 151, 65–84. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Whitehead, J. L.
(1968) Factors of source credibility. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 541, 59–63. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yeh, R. S., & Lawrence, J. J.
(1995) Individualism and Confucian dynamism: a note on Hofstede’s cultural root to economic growth. Journal of international business studies, 261, 655–669. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yum, J. O.
(1988) The impact of Confucianism on interpersonal relationships and communication patterns in East Asia. Communications Monographs, 551, 374–388. DOI logoGoogle Scholar