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Nicholas DiFonzo is our guest blogger during the week of September 15th. If you have any questions for Nicholas DiFonzo, add a comment to any of his posts. Here is some more information about The Watercooler Effect: A Psychologist Explores the Extraordinary Power of Rumors:
During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, rumors were flying about stranded residents shooting rescue workers. In New York City, the Brooklyn Bottling Group’s business was devastated by false rumors that its soda contained sterilizers.
Psychologist Nicholas DiFonzo has studied hearsay for more than fifteen years, and in this book he shows that the process that gave rise to these troubling rumors is fundamentally the same as a tete-a-tete around the company watercooler.
Why are rumors a ubiquitous aspect of the human experience— whether they’re about plots to wipe out the urban poor through sterilizers or a company’s plan to downsize? Armed with entertaining examples from all spheres of life, DiFonzo asserts that rumors are a window into both individual and group psychology.
DiFonzo ultimately argues that rumors stem from our deeply rooted motivation to make sense of the world. As social beings, when confronted with an ambiguous or threatening situation, our response is to talk to one another—whether at the dinner table, on the Web, or around the watercooler.
About Nicholas DiFonzo
Nicholas DiFonzo earned his Ph.D. in Social & Organizational Psychology from Temple University in 1994 where he was awarded the Marianthi Georgoudi Dissertation Award for philosophical and theoretical contributions to the field of Psychology. He is currently Professor of Psychology at Rochester Institute of Technology where he teaches Social Psychology, Industrial/Organizational Psychology, and Graduate Statistics. He is a member of numerous professional associations including the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society, and the Society for Personality and Social Psychologists.
Dr. DiFonzo has published numerous articles, book chapters, encyclopedia entries and technical reports pertaining to the topic of rumor. His book, Rumor Psychology: Social & Organizational Approaches (written with Prashant Bordia), was published by the American Psychological Association and won the Gold Medal-2006 ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Award in the psychology category. His general press book is The Watercooler Effect: A Psychologist Explores the Extraordinary Power of Rumors.
He has studied how rumors propagate through networks in social space and across time, the mechanisms by which rumors become accurate or distorted, motivations involved in rumor transmission, processes involved in believing a rumor, how rumor is differentiated from other forms of communication, the effects of hearing rumors and rumor denials, psychological mechanisms by which rumors are effectively refuted, how rumor processes are affected by organizational trust, and how rumors influence social and economic behavior.
Dr. DiFonzo received a grant from the National Science Foundation to investigate how rumors propagate through social networks over time. He also received funding from the Institute for Public Relations to study corporate rumors, their effects, and how top corporate public relations officers handle them. Dr. DiFonzo organized and maintains an Internet discussion group, for scholars interested in the topics of rumor and gossip.
He has pursued practical applications of rumor theory including how harmful rumors may be most effectively refuted. Dr. DiFonzo has given numerous presentations and invited addresses at academic conferences on rumor, as well as seminars and lectures to business audiences on rumor and rumor management. Dr. DiFonzo has served as expert trial witness on the topic of rumor for the Procter & Gamble Corporation and for the City of Los Angeles.
The Watercooler Effect
Nicolas DiFonzo - Editor
$24.95 | add to cart
Book: Hardcover | 9.25 x 6.25in | 304 pages | ISBN 9781583333259 | 11 Sep 2008 | Avery | Adult
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Penguin Books
psychology of rumors
Such an important topic, but I would like to add a thought that can help to explain why some rumors catch on, and other don't. There is a group dimension to the process, obvious around water coolers, less obvious on line. But those who speak rumors, those interested enough to listen and pass them on, often have common interests and needs that are reflected in the rumors they trade, a common purpose. Yes rumors are an attempt to make sense of the world, but the particular sense they make is shaped by group agendas -- and a need to belong.
Humans crave knowledge and
Humans crave knowledge and when there are issues that we don't quite grasp, we will seek input from others. Posing something as a rumor makes it appear that the idea came from some other source and if it turns out to be false, has no negative impact on the rumor spreader.