Contrary to popular belief, authority in writing is not the same thing as confidence. While confidence in writing is important, it does not automatically mean that someone is knowledgeable about a subject. Passages created with intelligent words, straightforward sentences, and correct grammar could be seen as credible information but when taken apart, it may come forward that the author lacks authority in the first place.
Ann M. Penrose and Cheryl Geisler did research on how different people write based on their authority and status. They chose a man who was completing his doctoral in philosophy, named Robert, and a younger woman who was a freshman in college, named Janet. The authors gave each participant the same prompt–paternalism–and compared and contrasted the differences between each writer. Janet had trouble putting her thoughts into words and Penrose and Geisler assume this is because she doesn’t feel as if she has the authority or confidence in her own ideas, unlike Robert who could confidently argue and fight the “claims” they made.
Wardle shares the story of Alan–a young technical support worker in a humanities department. Alan thought very highly of himself and imagined himself with more authority than he legitimately had. After this discovery that he didn’t have as much authority as he did, his own work suffered.
All three examples show that authority is not confidence, but rather credibility and respectability in their knowledgeable field. Authors who do ample research with facts and citations have far more authority than someone who is a confident writer.
Header photo credit by Dan Dimmock on Unsplash
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