Abstract: What makes rumors viral? How users respond to rumors in social media? Why some people rationally evaluate the credibility and content of rumors, whereas some other people transmit rumors in an irrational manner? These are academic researcher's current concerns about rumor. Rumor is defined as “unverified and instrumentally relevant information statements in circulation that arise in contexts of ambiguity, danger or potential threat, and that function to help people make sense and manage risk” (DiFonzo & Bordia, 2007: 13). Previously, as Allport and Postman described in the basic law of rumor, the spread of rumor is decided by the multiplication of “importance” and “informational ambiguity”. As the understanding of rumor extended, more factors or characteristics are demonstrated in the recent research about rumor. The present review summarizes recent research on rumor processing and transmission. In the present review, three dimensions, that is, circumstances, contents, people (including transmitters and recipients) which primarily influence rumor transmission are identified and introduced. First, rumors arise in ambiguous or threatening situations. Second, characteristics of contents, such as rumor valence and repetition influence rumor transmission. Specifically, negative, or high arousal pictures/contents, as well as repetition facilitate rumor transmission. Third, considering rumor transmitters, highly credible sources facilitate rumor transmission. Considering rumor recipients, both cognitive characteristics and personality impact susceptibility to rumor or rumor transmission. Specifically, attentional bias, false memories, personality traits such as trait anxiety, as well as motivations, and recipients’ beliefs, may result in bias or distortion in responses to rumors. For example, compared with less anxious individuals, highly anxious individuals transmit are more likely to transmit rumors. Besides, individuals high in “Need for Cognition”, or with greater intuitive thinking, were also found to more willing to pursue the rumor. Furthermore, believing in paranormal theories, conspiracy, unwarranted beliefs, and pseudoscience claims are found to be positively correlated. In contrast, affirming control, open-mindedness, and analytic thinking were found to reduce beliefs in conspiracy theories, respectively. These findings increase insight in ways, such as promote analytic thinking to counter the widespread acceptance of rumor (misinformation). Methods used in rumor transmissions are further discussed. Surveys and interviews are primarily used in previous studies about rumor processing and transmission. The experiments which manipulate factors are limited. Besides, a wealth of previous studies relied on self-reports. More experimental evidences in controlled settings are needed to investigate the mechanism and neural correlates underlying rumor processing and transmission. Last but not the least, Internet-based social networks including social networking sites and APPs provide opportunities for information transmission, as well as rumor spreading. In recent years, computational resources and massive social media data give rise to a wealth of studies investigating human behaviors. For example, a series of communication research questions are investigated using computational social science methods. Correspondingly, the rumor spreading processes can also be simulated, modelled, and predicted in various network topologies, or by using new frameworks. Besides, a growing body of research questions in the communication-relevant domain is increasingly being explored by using brain imaging approaches, such as electro-encephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). This “brain-as-predictor-approach” can be used to predict people’s attitude and behavior change, correspondingly to predict rumor transmission. Future studies about rumor transmission can benefit from the availability of brain imaging techniques and massive social media data analysis.

Key words: rumor transmission, characteristics of rumors, characteristics of rumor recipient, scocial cognitive neuroscience

摘要： 什么样的谣言更容易获取信任、得到传播？面对谣言，为何有人理性批判，有人则毫不犹豫地点“赞”、转发？这是大众和研究者们共同关注的问题。本文主要从情境、内容特征、传播者与受众特征这三个维度论述了影响谣言传播的因素。从情境特征来看，谣言在模糊且具有潜在威胁的情境中更易传播，封闭的舆论场也助长了谣言传播；从内容特征来看，包含适当情绪内容、针对特定对象的谣言更易得到传播；从传播者与受众特征来看，一方面，可靠消息源会增强人们的传播意愿；另一方面，受众的认知局限、人格特质、动机、价值观等，均可能造成认知偏差或歪曲，助长谣言传播。以往研究多采用问卷调查法，今后需要更多严格控制变量的实验研究，从行为和神经层面深入探讨谣言传播的机制。最后，社交媒体数据采集与分析技术的发展，尤其是计算传播学等交叉学科的发展，为谣言传播研究提供了新的思路和方法。

关键词: 谣言传播, 谣言特征, 受众特征, 社会认知神经科学