Says Who?: Credibility Effects in Self-Verification Strivings

People prefer self-consistent over self-discrepant feedback. It is not clear, however, whether this self-verification effect stems from self-confirmation or accuracy strivings. We experimentally demonstrate that people self-verify because they find self-consistent feedback more credible than self-discrepant one. This opens possibilities for presenting people with self-discrepant feedback they won't readily reject.