Rumors in wartime of this subject matter in the lives of individ ual members of the group. Social and organizational approaches, nicholas difonzo and prashant bordia assert, rumors are an enduring feature of social and organizational landscapes. Social psychology, more elegantly, uses the latin word rumor rumour in british english, which means sound, voice, or gossip. His major point was the understanding of the process and the reasoning behind rumors.
The psychology behind why no one can stop gossiping. War conditions foster rumors for two basic reasons. One of the more interesting readings in behrens and rosens wrting and reading across the curriculum was a psychology of rumor by robert h. Rumors and innuendo have long influenced the conduct of politics. Rumors address a handful of psychologicial needsthe need for certainty, selfimage, and social status. Three types 1944 a psychology of rumor was published by robert knapp in 1944, in which he reports on his analysis of over one thousand rumors during world war ii that were printed in the boston heralds rumor clinic column. Boingboing has alerted me to the fact that a book on psychology of rumours has just been published the book is by two psychologists, profs nicholas difonzo and prashant bordia who have been researching the topic and have consulted on legal cases where rumours have been involved it is entitled rumor psychology isbn 1591474264 and tackles the. There is a myriad of research around rumours in a variety of fields, primarily from a psychological perspective 35. Women share information in order to gain a clearer understanding of, say, workplace dynamics, or to establish loyalties at work.
Being spread by means of this primitive medium, rumors are. Pdf social psychologists have been researching the psychology of rumor for nearly a century. In fact, open conversation with coworkers is shown to be a key to reducing the gender wage gap. Groundless rumors that mcdonalds uses wormmeat in its hamburgers grounded sales in atlanta goggins, 1979. Implications for recordkeeping by organizations owen ambur, november 14, 2009 in rumor psychology.
Pdf the abstract for this document is available on csa illumina. We have over 90k visitors per week in term time and currently have 79,098 pages and 34,223 articles. Camille garcia reveals the trivial nature of gossip, why people are so much drawn into it. Rumormonger is a person who enjoys spreading rumors. The present research seeks to examine the potential impact of reporting such rumors in the media and the effectiveness of attempts to defuse such rumors by denying their validity directly. Rumors are information or a story that is passed from person to person but has not been proven to be true. Towards agentbased models of rumours in organizations. The first scientific investigation of evidence seems to have been carried out,not by psychologists nor by jurists, but by historians.
Misinformation can originate from rumors but also from works of fiction, governments and politicians, and vested interests. Moreover, changes in the media landscape, including the arrival of the internet, have fundamentally influenced the ways in which information is communicated and misinformation is spread. Sociology, psychology, and communication studies have widely varying definitions of rumor. Popular and media interest in rumor and gossip never seems to wane, but psychological research on rumor has been cyclical and that on gossip has, until recently, been dormant foster, 2004. Click download or read online button to get the psychology of rumor book now. From myth and legend it is distinguished by its emphasis on the topical where humor is designed to provoke laughter, rumor begs for beliefs. To view the abstract, click the abstract button above the document title. Regression analysis revealed that, together, personal anxiety elicited by specific rumors and behavior change represented the strongest predictors of aids rumor transmission r 2. Using the results from surveys and experiments, the author argues that rumors in the context of financial markets are built on three cornerstones. Social psychology, more elegantly, uses the latin word rumor rumour in. Though source credibility appears to be an effective tool for debunking political rumors, risks remain. This video gets into what rumors are and when theyre most likely to. Again, even if what is being said is true or has truth in it, we must examine the motive behind it spreading and from whom.
We all have a responsibility to correct stigmatizing language, and to challenge myths. During crises, we want messages confirmed before taking action. Rumors are like news except that news is accompanied by solid evidence. Rumors definition rumors are unverified information statements that people circulate to make sense of an unclear situation or to deal with a possible threat. News or item of knowledge of unidentified trustworthiness which is transferred from one person to another. The psychology of rumor is an important book for every socialogy or psychology student, and it must become more avalible. Rumors are about issues or situations of topical interest. Welcome to this resource for psychologists started on 21st january 2006 we have had almost four million visitors in 2010. Social and organizational approaches, expert rumor researchers nicholas difonzo and prashant bordia investigate how rumors start and spread, the accuracy of different types of rumor, and how rumors can be controlled, particularly given their propagation across media outlets and within organizations. Under these conditions, rumors fill in these gaps in the knowledge, and provide clandestine information. Rumors are also often discussed with regard to misinformation and disinformation the former often seen as simply false and the latter seen as deliberately false, though usually from a government source given to the media or a foreign government. Stanley halls adolescence because its publication in 1904 is widely viewed as the beginning of the. Full text full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. Each day, we struggle to distinguish rumor from fact.
Postman, depart ment of psychology, harvard university, cambridge. Definition of rumor rumor is a special case of informal social communications including myth, legend and current humor. Rumors are a ubiquitous feature of our social and informational landscapes. Psychology of a crisis we look for additional information and opinions. Rumors are an enduring feature of our social and organizational landscapes. Social and organizational approaches, expert rumor researchers nicholas difonzo and prashant bordia investigate how rumors. A psychology of rumor 25 table i rumors reported during september, 1942 atnew lantic eng sea middle far usa land board south west west wedgedriving rumors 65.
Correct myths, rumors and stereotypes, and challenge those whose language promotes bias. Psychology of rumor public opinion quarterly oxford. Allport, professor of psychology in the department of social relations, and leo postman, instructor of psychology, both at harvard university, present answers to some of these questions. Lets consider a few of the settings where social interaction and communication occur. Formerly in charge of rumor control for the massachusetts committee of public safety, robert knapp has probably been as intimately connected with this. No elected official should use language linking any epidemic to a particular people or geographic region, and challenging such language is a civic responsibility. Measuring impact of rumorous messages in social media ceur. In psychiatric departments, rumors can negatively change the dynamic of the relationships within the institution and can result in chronic states of conflict with individuals or group victimization, low morale, disruption of productivity, and, in worst cases, collapse of the cohesion of a department. Formerly in charge of rumor control for the massachusetts committee of public safety, robert knapp has probably been as intimately connected with this field as. This study takes a soft scientific cut to talks about rumors, hoaxes and urban legends. Four eightmember groups which were designated either as high anxiety or low anxiety on the basis of scores on the taylor manifest anxiety scale mas were presented with a rumor through a sociometrically selected individual. World war ii saw a burst of interest in the psychology of rumor and rumor control. You may find that you or other individuals are likely to do the following. Get a printable copy pdf file of the complete article 2.
An analysis of rumor public opinion quarterly oxford. Using the rumor psychology framework leads us to see. The psychology of rumor download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl. A rumor mill is a group of people who start and spread rumors. In 1994, dr ones received the society of industrial and organizational psychologys division 14 of the american psychological asso. Allport and postman in their seminal work psychology of rumour concluded that, as a. To decry the ravages of rumormongering is one thing. They attract attention, evoke emotion, incite involvement, affect attitudes and actionsand they are ubiquitous. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want.