Rumor psychology: Social and organizational approaches.

DiFonzo, Nicholas; Bordia, Prashant

doi:10.1037/11503-000

Cited by 375 publications

(347 citation statements)

References 228 publications

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“…Uncertainty and anxiety naturally occur in ambiguous situations involving dreaded events. Uncertainty may lead to anxiety through a reduced sense of control [11]. Disaster always accompanies this insecurity, uncertainty, feeling threatened, and anxiety, all of which facilitate belief in rumors and are applicable in the Fukushima accident.…”

Section: Psychometric Paradigmmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recently, a more advanced version of the risk perception paradigm focused on the causal relationships in specific risky objects, such as genetically modified organisms (GMO) [21], nanotechnology [22], and nuclear power energy [11]. In these studies, the main question prioritized those factors that increase or decrease the acceptance of risk objects, including perceived benefit, perceived risk, trust, stigma, and knowledge [1,4].…”

Section: Risk Perception Paradigm Vs Risk Communication Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Where humor is designed to provoke laughter, rumor begs for belief. Furthermore, rumor is defined as the unverified and instrumentally relevant information statements in circulation that arise in contexts of ambiguity, danger, or potential threat and that function to help people make sense of and manage risk [11] (p. 13). Similarly, rumors are propositions or allegations colored by various shades of doubt, because they are not accompanied by corroborative evidence [12] (p. 4).…”

Section: Rumor Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impact of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident on Belief in Rumors: The Role of Risk Perception and Communication

Kim

2017

Sustainability

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Rumors about nuclear power energy and its risks in terms of technology are common. However, these rumors are sometimes exaggerated and not true. Our research question is what factors and variables have influence the rumors related to the Fukushima nuclear accident. We analyzed data collected through social survey (n = 1572). To measure the dependent variable, we asked respondents whether rumors related to the Fukushima nuclear accident were true or false, and the degree to which they trusted such rumors. We measured three factors in determining belief in rumors: psychometric paradigm, communication, and risk perception. We then analyzed the direct impact of these three factors on belief in rumors and the indirect moderating effect of perceived risk of the Fukushima nuclear accident on the relationship between psychometric factors and belief in rumors. Results show that in the communication factors, source credibility decreases belief in rumors whereas usefulness of information and receiver's ability increase it. All the psychometric variables have significant impacts on belief in rumors. Perceived benefit, trust, and knowledge decrease belief in rumors, and perceived risk and stigma increase it. Finally, the perceived risk of Fukushima accident plays a role of moderators between psychometric paradigm and belief in rumors.

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Section: Psychometric Paradigmmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Risk Perception Paradigm Vs Risk Communication Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Rumor Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impact of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident on Belief in Rumors: The Role of Risk Perception and Communication

Kim

2017

Sustainability

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“…39 Begg, Anas, and Farinacci 1992; Gilbert, Tafarodi, and Malone 1993. In the realm of rumor, see Difonzo and Bordia (2007). 40 Nyhan andReifler 2009, 2010.…”

Section: How Do People Respond To Rumors?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Rumors and Health Care Reform: Experiments in Political Misinformation

Berinsky¹

2015

Brit. J. Polit. Sci.

466

313

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This article explores belief in political rumors surrounding the health care reforms enacted by Congress in 2010. Refuting rumors with statements from unlikely sources can, under certain circumstances, increase the willingness of citizens to reject rumors regardless of their own political predilections. Such source credibility effects, while well known in the political persuasion literature, have not been applied to the study of rumor. Though source credibility appears to be an effective tool for debunking political rumors, risks remain. Drawing upon research from psychology on 'fluency' -the ease of information recall -this article argues that rumors acquire power through familiarity. Attempting to quash rumors through direct refutation may facilitate their diffusion by increasing fluency. The empirical results find that merely repeating a rumor increases its power.

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“…These include the social breakdown imagery and stereotypes common in large disasters and include: fears that the untransported dead will cause disease (despite official information to the contrary); concerns that looting will become widespread based on isolated observations of behavior that observers label as looting (that a more critical eye would determine to not be looting at all); exaggerated estimates of damage and deaths; and that insurance companies will turn their backs on the victims and not pay for losses (Fischer 1998). Over time, as the media obtain information from reliable and authoritative sources, most rumors are controlled (though not all rumors will be controlled per Houts et al 1988;DiFonzo and Bordia 2006) and the media shift their focus from the story of the disaster to the provision of emergency-period instructions that include the location of emergency shelters, how to obtain food and water, warnings about aftershocks, and how to apply for disaster assistance.…”

Section: Seeking Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public Response to a Catastrophic Southern California Earthquake: A Sociological Perspective

Goltz

2011

Earthquake Spectra

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This paper describes a hypothetical scenario of public response to a large regional earthquake on the southern section of the San Andreas Fault. Conclusive social and behavioral science research over decades has established that the behavior of individuals in disaster is, on the whole, controlled, rational, and adaptive, despite popular misperceptions that people who experience a disaster are dependent upon and problematic for organized response agencies. We applied this knowledge to portray the response of people impacted by the earthquake focusing on actions they will take during and immediately following the cessation of the shaking including: immediate response, search and rescue, gaining situational awareness through information seeking, making decisions about evacuation and interacting with organized responders. Our most general conclusion is that the actions of ordinary people in this earthquake scenario comprised the bulk of the initial response effort, particularly in those areas isolated for lengthy periods of time following the earthquake.

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Rumor psychology: Social and organizational approaches.

Cited by 375 publications

References 228 publications

Impact of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident on Belief in Rumors: The Role of Risk Perception and Communication

Impact of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident on Belief in Rumors: The Role of Risk Perception and Communication

Rumors and Health Care Reform: Experiments in Political Misinformation

Public Response to a Catastrophic Southern California Earthquake: A Sociological Perspective

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