Disclosing a conflict of interest may harm the people it should protect. Few studies have examined how people view the disclosure of intentional and inherent (customary) conflicts differently or the effects of interpersonal relationships and age on recognizing and interpreting them. To examine this, we asked 202 professionals to respond to versions of a questionnaire containing six scenarios. Half the scenarios in each version contained one sentence drawing attention to either an intentional or an inherent conflict of interest. The scenarios that involved inherent conflicts showed no differences in persuasiveness or perceived conflict with the disclosure statements added. The scenarios containing intentional conflicts supported the benefits of disclosure—when the conflict of interest statements were included, they were evaluated lower in persuasiveness and higher in conflict of interest. Qualitative analyses showed inherent conflict disclosure increased the message’s persuasiveness. Results illuminate the usefulness and drawbacks of disclosure.
