People draw a distinction between information sources that are dishonest and those that are biased, according to a study.
Researchers from the Ohio State University in the US found that a source seen as biased may lose credibility with people, even if they believe the source is scrupulously honest.
That means untruthful -- or "fake" -- news is not the only issue for consumers, researchers said.
"If you want to be seen as a credible source, you have to be objective, as well as honest and knowledgeable," said Laura Wallace, a postdoctoral researcher at The Ohio State University.
The findings, published in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, are significant because most research has suggested that source credibility is a combination of trustworthiness and expertise, Wallace said.
Bias had not been considered, or was viewed as part of trustworthiness.
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The researchers, including Duane Wegener and Richard Petty, both professors at Ohio State. conducted several related experiments.
In one study, 169 undergraduate students read a fictitious conversation between aid workers trying to decide how to allocate resources at the beginning of an Ebola outbreak in the Congo.
They had to decide whether to allocate limited resources to Rutu, a rural area where the outbreak started, or Poko, a nearby city where the disease had spread.
The aid workers were all described as "highly trained."
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