Knowing an argument was written by an expert mathematician increases reported persuasion for a heuristic argument among both students and researchers¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causalr2·q3
Currency · newest study 2008 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q3 i? Participants who knew Gowers wrote the heuristic argument rated it as more persuasive than those who did not, with a mean difference of 8%. → Matthew Inglis 2008
q3 i? The authority effect on the heuristic argument held when the analysis was restricted to researchers only. → Matthew Inglis 2008
Evidence¶
Matthew Inglis 2008¶
Matthew Inglis, Juan Pablo Mejia-Ramos. (2008). The Effect of Authority on the Persuasiveness of Mathematical Arguments. https://doi.org/10.1080/07370000802584513
q3 · i? · causal · r2
Web-based Experiment 1 with 384 participants (190 research-active mathematicians, 194 undergraduates) randomly assigned to named or anonymous conditions. The ANOVA showed those who knew the author was Gowers "rated the argument as more persuasive than those who did not"; no effect size printed.
"there was also a significant main effect for condition, F(1,370)=5.45, MSE=928.5, p=0.020, showing that those participants who knew the argument was written by Gowers rated the argument as more persuasive than those who did not (a mean difference of 8%)."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Authority effects on heuristic and visual arguments persist when instructions push participants toward evaluating conviction, ruling out an instruction-interpretation artifact — related
- Authority figures do not increase persuasion for formal proofs, regardless of proof complexity or author eminence — related
- In Study 2, both general and specific warnings at least marginally reduce attitude change, with no significant difference between them — related
- An argument's named authoritative author increased mathematicians' persuasiveness ratings, but the authority effect vanished for deductive proofs — related
- A majority of surveyed mathematicians report believing proofs are correct because of journal publication, journal quality, or a trusted authoritative source — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
authority-increases-persuasion-heuristic-argument |
title |
Knowing an argument was written by an expert mathematician increases reported persuasion for a heuristic argument among both students and researchers |
description |
Knowing an argument was written by an expert mathematician increases reported persuasion for a heuristic argument among both students and researchers |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2008 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-18 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — matthew-inglis-2008 |
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