Rumor is an unverified statement that circulates from person to person and pertains to events or topics of concern. Rumors can be true, false, or partly true. The term is derived from the Latin rumor, meaning common talk. Rumors can be spread through written and oral communications such as emails, social media posts, text messages, or phone calls. They can also be spread by face-to-face interactions.
Rumours can be spread by people of all ages, socioeconomic backgrounds, and political leanings. The ability of a rumor to spread is dependent on its context and whether it contains enough interest for the audience to engage with it. A rumor’s impact on the audience may be based on its accuracy, how widely it is shared, and its perceived impact on their sense of self and community.
There is no one-size-fits-all definition of a rumor in the social sciences; research across disciplines has produced a variety of theories on the subject. However, the majority of research has analyzed the phenomenon from a communication perspective. The modern scholarly definition of a rumor stems from the early experiments of Louis William Stern in 1902, who conducted a chain experiment in which subjects passed a story from mouth to mouth without being allowed to explain or change the content. Stern’s findings suggested that rumors involve unverified information that is repeated and disseminated.
The success of a rumor depends on four key factors: a) the intensity of anxiety (personality and situational), b) the ambiguity of the rumor, c) the core claim’s likelihood of being false, and d) how much attention the rumor attracts. A rumor’s intensity of anxiety and its ambiguity are linked because a rumor with greater uncertainty will generate more interest. When a rumor carries the potential to detract from a sense of trust in official sources, it can become a serious public health threat.
Managing the effects of a harmful rumor depends on reducing uncertainty and building trust in formal sources of information. Efforts to counter harmful rumors should include providing clear, accurate information, communicating the values and procedures by which decisions are made, and reiterating what is known for certain. When a rebuttal cannot be prevented, it is most effective when it comes from a source that is viewed as appropriate and honest. Moreover, it should convey anxiety-reducing information and explain the motivation for the rebuttal. In addition, a rebuttal should be offered promptly, as the speed at which a rumor is addressed can influence its consequences.