Relative – not absolute – judgments of credibility affect susceptibility to misinformation conveyed during discussion

People remember different details about the same events, and when they discuss events they exchange new – and misleading – information. Discussion can change memory, especially when the source of new information is highly credible. But we do not know whether the effects of credibility are based on absolute judgments – judging a sourceʹs credibility independently from our own credibility – or relative judgments – judging a sourceʹs credibility only in relation to our own credibility. We addressed this question by manipulating subjectsʹ expectations, leading them to believe that they either had the same, higher or lower “visual acuity” than their partner while they watched a movie together. To create ample opportunities for the pairs to mention misleading details to one another, each member unknowingly saw a different version of the movie. The pairs then discussed some of the critical differences, but not others. Later, everyone took an independent recognition test. Subjectsʹ susceptibility to misinformation depended on their own credibility relative to their partnerʹs, supporting the idea that susceptibility to misinformation depends on relative differences in credibility.