Altered risk judgments: source credibility of violence risk assessment methods.

This study examines source credibility of violence risk assessments made using two methods: actuarial assessment and structured professional judgment (SPJ). Data were collected in an online study of violence risk to a university population (N =174). Source credibility (Meyer, 1988) was evaluated as an antecedent variable to Eagly and Chaiken’s (1993) heuristic-systematic model (HSM) of information processing. The impact of motivation for accurate information was assessed. Source credibility of violence risk assessment methods was similar on a superficial level but different underlying structures were detected. Analysis of the full model revealed notable differences in model fit when source credibility factor scores (&#61539;2 = 16. 693, p = .005, Negelkerke R2 = .124) were included in the model. Accuracy motivation was predictive of risk decisions (&#61538; =.602, CI = [.412, .880], p < .054). Results indicate that both perceived credibility of the method and motivation for accurate information impact risk judgments.