The watercooler effect
Subtitle: a psychologist explores the extraordinary power of rumors
By: Nicholas DiFonzo.
Publisher: Avery
Published: 2008
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 291
ISBN-13: 9781583333259
Subjects: Rumor; Social psychology
Description: Shows that the process that gives rise to national rumors is fundamentally the same as those that arise around the company watercooler. Why do some rumors persist even in the fact of well-publicized facts to the contrary? Why do we pass on information without verifying that it's true?
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: To rumor is human; title: Swimming in rumors : the prevalence and power of hearsay; title: It's clear that it's unclear : how rumors help us make sense of an uncertain world; title: A family resemblance : gossip and urban legend, rumor's close cousins; title: It's a small world around the watercooler : how, why, and where we spread rumors; title: Believe it, or not : why we believe some rumors and not others; title: Facts are stubborn things : taking stock of the word on the street; title: Managing the rumor mill.