The watercooler effect
Subtitle: an indispensable guide to understanding and harnessing the power of rumors
By: Nicholas DiFonzo
Edition: First paperback ed.
Publisher: Avery
Published: 2009
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 291
ISBN-13: 9781583333594
Subjects: Social psychology; Rumor
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 face of well-publicized facts to the contrary? Why do we pass on information without verifying that it's true? DiFonzo explains how rumors stem from our deeply rooted motivation to make sense of the world and are a window into both individual and group psychology.
Notes: Reprint. Originally published: ℗♭2008.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 225-280) 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 : the what, why, and where of rumor spread; 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; title: Epilogue: Doing rumor well.