A Psychology Case

With A Psychology of Rumor, Robert H. Knapp, a psychologist during World War II, attempted to classify and identify the numerous rumors circulating in 1944 to create the framework for further study. He identified three basic features that apply to rumor: 1. Pipe dream rumors; 2. Bogie or fear rumors; 3. Wedge-driving rumors. For his time, the research was accurate but the way people communicate and think have changed a lot since 1944 which makes his research open for debate.

There are conditions which make it easier for rumors to become distorted. The farther a rumor is removed from known or confirmed fact, the more easily it seems to get twisted when passed on. "Distortion appears to take its greatest toll when a rumor is kept entirely on the person to person level and does not appear in the press or on the air." Finally, when there is either great unrest (as in panic) or an acute need for information, rumor tends to undergo its most drastic changes. (pg 362)

The largest change that has occurred in our society is the advancement in technology and the way we communicate with one another. Rumors have taken on an entirely new form via Facebook, twitter, email, texting along with many other applications that allow mobile users to post and share anything in a matter of seconds for the world to see. Rumors are no longer person to person, but for the entire world to read. With that being said, rumors are no longer just attempting to get information to one another, but our society has created a culture where rumors are meant to damage one's reputation and harm the subject of the said rumor.

One of the greatest cases of harmful rumors are the news reports of teens committing suicide because of rumors not ending on brick and mortar school property. The rumors turn into school wide bullying and it creates a toxic environment. It not only affects their academics but it affects the way they see themselves and carry themselves as human beings.

Another example is our society and its fascination with celebrity rumors. Again, it is not meant to pass around important information, but an attempt to harm a reputation. The internet's meme culture is another instance of how something can snowball in the process of transmission depending on the perspective. The term snowball is used to describe the inflation and falsification of facts in order to spin the perspective of the rumor to the benefit