Did you know that the human mind can actually lead you to remember a false statement as true by hearing that it’s false? With the fast-paced lives we all lead, that oddly makes sense to me.
I recently learned of Nick DiFonzo, Professor of Psychology at Rochester Institute of Technology, one of the leading experts on rumor research… continued…
Nicholas DiFonzo, a professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology who studies the psychology of rumors, said that the mass confusion over Mr. Jackson’s sudden death probably left people craving… continued…
Garrett and James N. Danziger, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, commissioned a representative national telephone survey of 600 Americans to learn continued…
How powerful is the rumor mill and why are rumors so easy to believe yet so difficult to quash? We’ll talk this hour with Psychologist Nicholas DiFonzo, whose new book is “The Watercooler Effect: A Psychologist Explores the Extraordinary Power of Rumors” (Avery,2008).
Nicholas DiFonzo joins Dr. Drew to talk about his book “The Watercooler Effect” and how rumors are a fundamental phenomenon of social beings… listen…
Professor Nicholas DiFonzo, the author of “Water Cooler Effect” has his own explanation on why rumours are so popular with the American electorate at the moment… continued…
Here is a Time.com Q&A article I wrote this week covering a variety of rumor topics.
Here’s a review of The Watercooler Effect from Shelf Awareness
This week I posted three blogs on the Penguin site on the topic of Political Rumors in the US Presidential Election. Please check them out.
When Gossip Is Good | The Social Value of Tiger’s Transgressions
Is all this gossip about Tiger Woods just useless prattle, or worse? Friday, he said he’s taking an “indefinite break” from golf and spending his time “being a better husband, father and person,” but don’t we have anything better to do with our time? Or is there something about all the sordid chatter that has a redeeming purpose?
Gossip has a bad reputation, and deservedly so. Despite its guilty pleasures, gossip is often meant to hurt people. It can be used to exclude, slander, or attack others… ?continued…