Dr. Melanie Green on Audience Perception of a Speaker for UBNow

Published March 20, 2020

In an article recently published for UBNow about how the nature of a message affects the audience's perception of the speaker, UB Professor Melanie Green, PhD, spoke about what may drive public doubt despite the conclusions of credible experts.

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Melanie Green, a social psychologist and UB Professor in the Department of Communication, was recently quoted in an article regarding audience perception for UBNow. According to Green, her current study explores "why people are sometimes distrusting of what amounts to the best possible evidence..." Green notes that issues like climate change and COVID-19 are at the center of this problem, where perception might serve as a communication barrier.

Dr. Green, alongside other researchers involved in this study, tested whether a speaker telling a story increases the perception of warmth and causes an audience to appreciate a narrative more. The results of the study point to some helpful information about the benefits of building warmth and trustworthiness when presenting an important concept. Dr. Green assures that trustworthiness forms "a general positive effect" on competence.

Read more here.