Communication and Group Perception: Extending the `Saying is Believing' Effect

Leslie R. M. Hausmann , John M. Levine (1) , E. Tory Higgins (2)

1 PITT - University of Pittsburgh
2 Columbia University [New York]

The saying-is-believing (SIB) effect occurs when tailoring a message to suit an audience influences a communicator's subsequent memories and impressions about the communication topic. Previous studies were restricted to one-person audiences and individuals as the communication topic. The present studies explored the SIB effect with multiple-person audiences and groups as the communication topic. In Study 1, the SIB effect occurred with a 1-person, but not a 3-person, audience. In Study 2, the SIB effect occurred with a 3-person audience when the audience explicitly validated communicators' messages. These findings demonstrate the generalizability of the SIB effect to group contexts, provide further evidence for a shared reality interpretation of this effect, and suggest a potentially important mechanism underlying stereotype development.

Mots clés: communication; group perception; saying is believing; shared reality; stereotype development

Leslie R. M. Hausmann, John M. Levine, E. Tory Higgins. Communication and Group Perception: Extending the `Saying is Believing' Effect. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 2008, 11 (4), pp.539-554. ⟨10.1177/1368430208095405⟩. ⟨hal-00571704⟩