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Ashley Rowland Professor Lago 1100 College Writing 24 October 2013 Rumors My English professor directed an assignment where she asked us if we assumed the rumor was true about William Paterson University putting laxatives in the food served at Wayne Hall. At first, I said no. I did not think that Willy P put laxatives in the food. I supposed theres no way the school would put itself at jeopardy, students who may be allergic at risk, or even waste all that money on laxatives . (Rumor experiment by Professor Susan Lago) We were put into groups to discuss the matter and even though half my group believed it did, there was still no convincing me. During the group debate, the majority all believed William Paterson did put laxatives in the food. Many students shared their personal experience about how the food affected them. Ironically several of my classmates had the same side effects; I was starting to believe this rumor could be true. After observing the classs attitudes, it also pressed me more towards believing the rumor. Since I had never heard the gossip about the food, and really had no idea whether or not it was true it made me give in, maybe because the classs responses seemed legit. Astonishingly, I was right all along and it was all just one big rumor that wasnt accurate. This is a great example of rumor cascades. Basically there are a lot of psychological factors that take place in order for a rumor to spread successfully.

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Rumor cascades are often accountable for acceptance in false rumors. Such stories typically spread around communities as a result of such cascades; people believe them because they do not have the information that would lead them to reject the indications given. Being that I have never overheard this rumor before and lacked any real information on the topic, my classmates responses convinced me to believe it was valid, no matter how senseless it sounded. Someone who has no evidence on a certain rumor will usually run with the beliefs of the majority of the group. One factor is peer pressure. A great handful of the class had agreed that the rumor was true, which also played a part in me believing so. One of my classmates in class predominantly seemed one hundred percent positive that this rumor was true because of a personal experience. Her response totally convinced me because it seemed like the side effects she had could only come from a dosage of laxative. My fellow peers made me completely believe that this rumor had to be true! Like-minded people, engaged in deliberation with one another, increase one another's confidence in rumors. Here too we see why false rumors are widely believed within some groups. According to Cass R. Sustein sometimes people believe rumors because other people believe them. (Rumor cascades and group popularization by Cass R.Sustein , pg.392) This is common in my small group of selected friends and family. We are all very dependent on each other so if one of us believes something is important and irrelevant to share, we all do so. We all trust one another .We dont need evidence to prove that the shared information is true or any confirmation of outside sources, we merely go on our word. This is something I have seen in a lot of other surrounding families and groups of friends as well. Depending on the right circumstance such as people you are comfortable with, one might incorporate it into their own beliefs.

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Another factor is learning from others etc. Social connotations also play a role in how people construe rumors. Those who lack some self-esteem or desire for acceptance will usually fall into group polarizations. They will usually go along with the majority of the group to not stand out too much. Verification is also very common. An individual with little to no information on the rumor might start out a little iffy on their beliefs of the rumor. Sunstein mentions with some affirmation from outside sources however, they become confident in what they believe. Biased adjustment is also accountable for the scattering of many rumors. This means that people fit in new information in a choosy manner. When people get information that supports what they primarily thought, they give it significant weight, meaning they take it into consideration because it goes with certain beliefs they already had. (Rumor cascades and group popularization by Cass R.Sustein, pg.388, 394). With Subjective accommodations, peoples beliefs are formed by stimulus of predetermined concepts to come to an assumption of what is true. I, myself am also a little guilty of this because if I am presented with info I know nothing of, I will evaluate it based on my personal preconceived notions on the topic. In conclusion, rumors are something that are unavoidable in everyones life. As you can see there are several factors that take place on how successfully a rumor is spreaded. I personally love them because they keep me up to date and entertained. Rumors can be fun and entertaining, but can also be disturbing and ruin certain people lives. Whether good or bad, true or false, comprehending the mechanism and sensibility of rumors benefits us to be better thinkers and give better criticism.

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Work Cited Professor Lago rumor experiment Rumor cascades and group popularization by Cass R.Sustein