Objective Rejection?: The Effects of Agreement and Involvement on Message Quality Evaluation

Abstract

To extend argument quality research, this article explores the effects of agreement and issue im- portance on argument quality assessment for eight different topic areas to explore whether there is systematic bias in the evaluation of an argument’s quality. Prior agreement was the primary and often sole variable predicting argument quality assessment for both supporting and counter position messages. The effects of agreement on assessment are consistent at high levels of issue importance and less consistent at low levels of issue importance. Issue importance did not predict argument quality assessment. Implications for the investigation of argument quality assessment are discussed.