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Confidentiality and credibility: An Examination of Confidential Information and Its Impact on Credibility

Alvesson, Maja LU (2025) VRSM01 20242
Division of Risk Management and Societal Safety
Risk Management and Safety Engineering (M.Sc.Eng.)
Abstract
Information management is a central part of organizations in today´s society, and critical research is continuously made to assess the reliability of sources. Previous studies have suggested that information with confidential sources tends to be perceived as more credible compared to open sources. The aim of the thesis was to analyze the perceived credibility of information from confidential versus open sources. A survey was performed among students and emergency services personnel in order to collect data. Respondents read two different reports – one with confidential sources and one with open sources – and subsequently answered questions regarding the credibility of the information, the sources, decision-making and their reactions to the... (More)
Information management is a central part of organizations in today´s society, and critical research is continuously made to assess the reliability of sources. Previous studies have suggested that information with confidential sources tends to be perceived as more credible compared to open sources. The aim of the thesis was to analyze the perceived credibility of information from confidential versus open sources. A survey was performed among students and emergency services personnel in order to collect data. Respondents read two different reports – one with confidential sources and one with open sources – and subsequently answered questions regarding the credibility of the information, the sources, decision-making and their reactions to the information. The results detected no significant difference in perceived credibility between confidential and open sources. The outcome could indicate the influence of various heuristic mechanisms affecting the perceived credibility of the information. A study for the future was suggested with the aim of replicating the study with a scenario without a strong connection to emergency services, to evaluate if expertise has an influence of the secrecy heuristic effect. (Less)
Popular Abstract (Swedish)
Vi översköljs dagligen av olika typer av information, men vad avgör om vi bedömer den som
trovärdig eller inte? Tidigare studier har visat att gemene person bedömer sekretessbelagd
information som mer trovärdig än offentlig. Kan detta gälla för alla? Finns det andra
grupper som inte bedömer sekretessmarkerad information som mer trovärdig? Mitt
examensarbete undersöker räddningstjänstpersonal och studenter – litar dessa grupper också
mer på information som kommer från sekretessmarkerade källor?
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Alvesson, Maja LU
supervisor
organization
course
VRSM01 20242
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Credibility, reliability, confidentiality, secrecy, information, heuristics, risk communication, source credibility.
language
Swedish
id
9189632
date added to LUP
2025-06-12 13:46:18
date last changed
2025-06-12 13:46:18
@misc{9189632,
  abstract     = {{Information management is a central part of organizations in today´s society, and critical research is continuously made to assess the reliability of sources. Previous studies have suggested that information with confidential sources tends to be perceived as more credible compared to open sources. The aim of the thesis was to analyze the perceived credibility of information from confidential versus open sources. A survey was performed among students and emergency services personnel in order to collect data. Respondents read two different reports – one with confidential sources and one with open sources – and subsequently answered questions regarding the credibility of the information, the sources, decision-making and their reactions to the information. The results detected no significant difference in perceived credibility between confidential and open sources. The outcome could indicate the influence of various heuristic mechanisms affecting the perceived credibility of the information. A study for the future was suggested with the aim of replicating the study with a scenario without a strong connection to emergency services, to evaluate if expertise has an influence of the secrecy heuristic effect.}},
  author       = {{Alvesson, Maja}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Confidentiality and credibility: An Examination of Confidential Information and Its Impact on Credibility}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}