Some rumors start with deliberate misinformation. Whether it is a disgruntled employee, romantic rival or jealous competitor, someone with malicious intent will start the rumor mill turning by making a false statement or planting a salacious piece of gossip into the right ears.
Once those people have started their own rumormongering, the rumor takes on a life of its own, with very few attempts at fact checking. By the time the rumor enters mainstream conversations, it may be completely blown out of proportion or the details may be even more unpleasant.
Another way rumors start is through a misinterpretation of the facts. A secretary might overhear part of a conversation between her boss and a human resource director and misinterpret it as preparations for a massive lay-off, for example. When people start looking for solid answers in a sea of rumors, even small or insignificant facts can suddenly become major fodder for new rumors. Finally, bogie rumors express our fears, as in the recent rumor that the U.
All of these types of rumors indeed spread misinformation, but they help us process and make sense of an uncertain situation. Rumors may provide an outlet for our heightened emotional life during crisis, but they nonetheless have dire consequences. This is evidenced by the recent shortage of antimalarial drugs and the death of an Arizona man who ingested a form of chloroquine to protect himself from the virus. Indeed, much has changed in our information and communication landscape since the s, but it appears that most agencies continue to rely on the methods crafted seven decades ago: squashing rumors with facts.
The effectiveness of this method of directly countering rumors with facts was debated during the War and continues to be debated today. While some research suggests that the direct counteraction of rumor with fact is successful, other research indicates that the effects of this approach are minimal and short-lived. Some scholars warn of a backfire effect, where exposing people to false misinformation, even to debunk it, actually increases belief.
Recent research has, however, begun to explore the nuances of this method. In a recent review of the literature, D. Flynn, Brendan Nyhan, and Jason Reifler describe several factors that appear to make corrections more successful : for example, the use of professional fact-checkers or the presentation of facts in graphical rather than textual form. Recent research also suggests that direct refutation of rumor may succeed if the refutation comes from an unlikely political source in polarized environments.
In addition, we are only just beginning to understand how rumor operates online and in social media networks. The World Health Organization has partnered with many of these companies—Facebook, Twitter, and Google—to consider ways of using them to combat pandemic misinformation.
Several of these sites are actively blocking and removing misinformation, as was the case with a video in which Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro downplayed the necessity of social distancing and promoted the use of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment.
In these cases, understanding the group dynamics of rumor becomes as important as understanding the science of individual persuasion and belief. It is clear that social and behavioral scientists have much to contribute to understanding the many variables at work in the spread of rumor.
I think we can if we try. Cathy Faye is a historian of psychology and the assistant director of the Cummings Center for the History of Psychology at the University of Akron. Rumors in the current pandemic Although the word rumor is used in a variety of ways, it generally refers to stories that circulate widely, without trustworthy verification or falsification.
The wartime origins of rumor control When the United States entered World War II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the American public entered a psychological situation similar to our current one.
Why rumor, why now? Popular on Behavioral Scientist. By Anupriya Kukreja. By Eric Johnson. By Steven Pinker. By Evan Nesterak. View Most Popular. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile.
Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. It happens so frequently during the teenage years , that some people have come to accept it as a normal part of teenage life.
But when that drama involves toxic friendships , slut-shaming , and spreading rumors, that is anything but normal. In fact, for those who are impacted, gossip can be downright painful and almost impossible to ignore — especially if social media is being used to spread it. Consequently, kids who are being gossiped about are negatively impacted. Gossip and rumors can alienate friends, ruin reputations, and even lead to ostracizing behavior and other forms of relational aggression.
It also helps to understand why kids engage in gossiping and rumor spreading. Rumors are pieces of information or a story that has not been verified.
What this means, is that the person telling the story does not know for certain if it is true or not. Most of the time, people who spread rumors do not bother to determine if there is any truth to what they are saying.
Typically, rumors are spread from person to person and can change slightly each time they are told. As a result, they can become exaggerated and altered over time.
Rumors can involve just about any topic and often run the gamut. For instance, at school, there could be rumors about casting calls in the theater department, about how the final will be handled in history class, or that the head cheerleader is secretly dating a member of the chess club.
Gossip is slightly different from a rumor.
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