|
Factors Influencing Rumor Transmission: Characteristics of Circumstances, Contents, Transmitters and Recipients
晓哲 彭 Fang Cui Hong LI
2018, 41(4):
916-921.
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.
Related Articles |
Metrics
|