The Understanding of a Rumor
Synopsis. One of the more interesting readings in Behrens and Rosen’s Wrting and Reading Across the Curriculum was “A Psychology of Rumor” By Robert H. Knapp. His major point was the understanding of the process and the reasoning behind rumors.
A rumor can be classified as a special case of informal social communications that include myth, legend, and current humor. Rumors have three basic characteristics to them. The first is mode transmission which is usually done through word of mouth. The second characteristic is that they provide information, ranging from a particular person, an event, or condition. Lastly, the third characteristic is that a rumor satisfies mythology, folklore, and humor. Rumors have the tendency to express and gratify the emotional needs of the community in the same way as a day dream might have on an individual. The emotional needs most frequently demanded by rumors would be wish, fear, and hostility.
There are three types of rumors, the pipe-dream rumor, the Bogie rumor, and the Wedge-driving Aggression rumor. The Pipe-dream rumor can be characterized as the expressions of the hopes and wishes of those among they circulate. The Bogie rumor is the exact opposite of the Pipe-dream, whereas instead of the expressing the hopes and wishes it expresses the fears and anxieties. The Wedge-driving Aggression rumor has the central motivation of aggression or hatred. It’s named this because it has the effect of dividing groups and destroying loyalties.
What makes a good rumor is that the rumor may not exceed the complexity greater than the memory span of the group that it’s being spread to. Short, simple and salient typically makes a successful rumor. Names, numbers, and places are typ...
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... once it passes the individual who starts it. I feel that “Managing Rumors” by John Doorley and Helio Fred Garcia treats rumors as too much like a machine that can be turned on and turned off without any trouble. Even using a mathematical formula, one is unable to control a person’s beliefs and incentives about a certain subject in my opinion.
Both “A Psychology of Rumor” By Robert H. Knapp and “Managing Rumors” by John Doorley and Helio Fred Garcia, gave great detail on rumors. They both broke down the makeup of them and gave very insightful information of certain characteristics of what to do and not do with rumors. I found “A Psychology of Rumor” By Robert H. Knapp in my opinion much more in line with my beliefs about rumors over “Managing Rumors” by John Doorley and Helio Fred Garcia.
Works Cited
Wrting and Reading Across the Curriculum by Behrens and Rosen
... the rumor. In December of 1981 they received 1,152 queries, about the rumor, and then by “June, however, the center was receiving more than 15,000 queries monthly”. In just a matter of months the Rumor had skyrocketed, and this information shows just how big the rumor actually was.
Summary #3 – “Campus Diversity and Student Self-Segregation: Separating Myths from Facts” by Debra Humphreys
First and foremost, it is critical to discuss and unpack the ethics behind online gossiping. The way Klosterman describes online gossiping is by using the word villainy. However, villainy is typically defined as cruel or wicked behavior. In his essay, Klosterman discusses what makes a villain in regards to the online world. Specifically, Klosterman states, “The reason Perez Hilton became a villain was because the intersection of those two qualities: It wasn’t just the content, and it wasn’t just the success. It was the creeping fear that this type of content would become the only way any future person could be successful” (226). This interpretation of villainy is quite different than what most would consider. When people hear the
Gladwell introduces us to three essential rules of epidemics: the Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor, and the Power of Context. The Law of the Few says a key factor in epidemics is the role of the messenger: it spreads through word-of-mouth transmission. Gladwell explains this theory with an example of how Paul Revere managed to spread the news of the British invasion overnight. Gladwell continues to explain that there are several types of people that create these types of epidemics. They are called Connectors, Mavens and Salesmen.
Tilson, D. (1997). Toxic Sludge is Good for You! Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry (Book). World Communication, 26(1), 62.
Falsehood could be a useful evil in politic, because, apparently, by means of falsehood, the risk of social turmoil could be efficiently minimized or even eliminated. Thus, the ultimate good of the whole,
Urban legends are the supernatural folklore of our modern society. From one generation to the next, they orally travel throughout the world, constantly changing from one region to the next. Although cultural variations exist, the core of all these urban legends remains the same, to unveil the universally known individual and societal fears. “The Graveyard Wager” is a timeless urban legend told again and again, and the one of which I will explore more in depth.
Fuller, J.F.C. "Propaganda and War. The New Technique of Mendacity as a Psychological Weapon." Ordnance, Dec
Another controlling method that is diffused through television, radio and written publications; is any reported information about world politics and news. Powerful political groups narrow people’s views of what is going on around them by tainting and twisting information to their own device. They decide what to say and when to say it, revealing as much or little information as desired, in ‘befitting’ instances; thus enabling them to hide information they consider deleterious to themselves, from the public. It also permits them to depict opponents in overly negative terms.
...ore long-term effect on both the media and the person who the false information was about.
In conclusion, misinformation effect is when someone is misled by information about an event that they witnessed and has an effect on how they remember that event later. This phenomenon can be found in everyday life with the smallest of things that do not matter, but it can also have an effect on how an eyewitness remembers an event, which could lead to the conviction of an innocent person. Although this has happened a lot in the past and still happens today, there have been plenty of steps taken to prevent it from happening, from educating people to the creation of DNA tests. This problem will probably never be completely solved but the more information learned about the misinformation effect the better off people will be in the future.
Gossip can be a form of either informal or conversational talk that is not usually planned but happens spontaneously in conversation (Tholander, 2003). Gossip is a distinct and unusual form of storytelling as it involves a non-present third person. In order for a story to be considered as gossip it must handle a past event of which the absent third party was involved in. It often occurs within friendships,
The Crucible, an interesting manifest about the Salem witch trials, really puts how far lies can be taken into perspective. A group of girls get caught dancing, and doing rituals that were forbidden, and to get out of it they lie. That gathering of young girls, ultimately got half the town killed. Even today, people are not safe from the dangerous peril of a teen’s accusational lie.
I read the “Truth is in the Ear of the Beholder”. The main idea is, rumor and conspiracy are people ways of trying to make sense of our complicated world. The idea told us it can be make our mind thrive, for who are we predispose to believe. The author of the “Truth is in the Ear of the Beholder” Gregory Rodriguez writes, “CIA’s Duelfer report……the Bush administration was wrong to think Iraq had such weapons” (485). Was this a rumor? a conspiracy? or a truth? I would suspicion that where the rumor origin, and what the rumor’s purpose. That main idea shaped my own idea, because it made me understand this was not a easy rumor, maybe behind this rumor, which had a bigger picture or conspiracy. The rumor would be in people ways to spreading a wrong
"A leader with no followers is a guy taking a walk". Good leaders whether it be opinion or political, rarely if ever walk by themselves. The information theydisseminate more often than not leaves them with a hoard of followers that conform to their ideas or cause. The circulated information is known as propaganda. The Webster dictionary defines propaganda as, "ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further ones cause or to damage an opposing cause". Propaganda has been around for a long time; the earliest use of the word was in connection with religious missionary activity in the 16th century (Hardwood). Contemporary propaganda for the most part is information or disinformation, spread by leaders through their mouth pieces such as spokespeople or public relations firms. Contemporary propaganda is frequently created with stereotypes that can be easily understood, in order to reach the greatest number of people. Stereotypes and propaganda are like peanut butter and jam, when put together stereotypes function very well in propaganda. This essay will look at the relationship between stereotypes and propaganda, how stereotypes function in propaganda and how well they function in propaganda tactics. In other words, this essay will look at how stereotypes function in propaganda.