Ashley Rowland Professor Lago 1100 College Writing 24 October 2013 Rumors After being directed by my English professor

on 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, It was observed that my classmates assumed it was true. At first, I said no. I did not think that WPU put laxatives in the food. I supposed theres no way the school would put itself in 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 influenced 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. Observing my classmates made me give in, maybe because the classs responses seemed truthful. 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. Once a certain number of people believe a rumor, others will believe it too, unless they have a good reason to believe that it is false (Sunstein 388). Basically, there are a lot of psychological factors to make rumor cascades are

successful rumors Rumor cascades are often accountable for acceptance in false rumors. Most rumors involve topics on which people lack direct or personal knowledge, and so most of us defer to the crowd (Sunstein 388). 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 fellow 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 peers in class predominantly seemed 100% 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 (Sunstein 392). According to Cass R. Sunstein sometimes people believe rumors because other people believe them. 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 relevant to share, we all do. We all trust one another .We dont need evidence to prove that the shared information is true or any confirmation from outside sources, we merely go on our word. For example when my best friends and I talk about boys we usually will listen and take into consideration each others advice and thoughts about that particular guy before getting involved or dating that specific person . This is something I have seen in a lot of other

surrounding families and groups of friends as well. This factor relates back to Rumor Cascades because acceptance , and bravery place an important role on the spread of rumors .Another factor is learning from others. Social suggestions also play a role in how people construe rumors. According to Sunstein, those who lack some self-esteem or desire for acceptance will usually fall into group polarization. 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 (Sunstein 391).Such as I remember there was a rumor spreading about Little Caesars pizzeria in Paterson NJ about being infested with rats and roaches. I automatically believed it because of its location. And I always believed that environment was dirty due to my observation of the surrounding conditions. 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, and I will evaluate it based on my personal preconceived notions on the topic. In conclusion, rumors are unavoidable in everyones life. Rumor Cascades is an example how rumors are spread in everyday life .As one can see there are several factors that take place on how successfully a rumor is spread. 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 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.

Work Cited Professor Lago, Rumor Experiment) (Cass R.Sustein, Rumor cascades and group popularization)