Rumors are unique, usually unreliable information and a distorting form of transmission of any information. According to psychological definitions, rumors are a mass phenomenon of interpersonal exchange of distorted, emotionally colored information. There are two main typologies of rumors: one classification of rumors is based on the degree of their reliability, the other focuses on their emotional coloring. The Knapp’s typology identifies three main types of rumors in terms of dynamic characteristics: these are desired rumors, frightening rumors, and aggressive rumors (Behrens and Rosen 458).
One of the rumors discussed is the rumor that the Procter & Gamble logo is associated with Satanism. The Procter & Gamble logo depicted a male face in the form of a month and 13 stars. In the 1980s, rumors spread that it was a Satanic symbol, as it was a mockery of this quote from the Bible. No one has provided clear evidence of Procter & Gamble’s connection with Satanism. Moreover, the company even managed to sue a large sum from Amway distributors for spreading false rumors. However, the logo had to be abandoned and replaced with a simple combination of the letters P&G (Behrens and Rosen 440).
According to Knapp’s classifications, this rumor can be attributed to rumors based on fear. Stories of this kind are often based on religious (as in this case) cultural or national traditions. They carry and cause pronounced negative, frightening moods and emotional states (Behrens and Rosen 458). The spread of disturbing, alarming rumors can seriously destabilize the economic situation. For example, people who believed in this legend refused to purchase the company’s products, which led to significant financial damage for it. Often, rumors based on fear are spontaneous and can also be created artificially, due to the activities of specially trained communicators. This may happen, as in this case, to combat competition in the market.
This rumor was accepted as accurate was most strongly influenced by its close connection with religion. Adherence to any beliefs generates in people an acute intolerance to any other views and makes them see the subtext of sin in everything. The confidence in the reliability of rumors has grown even more vital since, most often, extreme religiosity is observed in the elderly. This is due to certain personal factors in this category of citizens that make them susceptible to rumors.
Dissatisfaction with life, frustration, fatigue, and a state of long waiting is inherent in people who are inclined to believe stories and the elderly population to a greater extent. These two reasons served in favor that the rumor about Procter & Gamble’s connection with Satanism is true.
An episode from another essay selected for analysis contains a rumor about an office romance between two employees which was dismissed by an older woman and was not valid. In this case, as in the previous, such a phenomenon as mental infection worked (Chen and Wang 635).
People with an emotionally unstable psyche fall under the phenomenon’s influence faster; they stop being critical of the situation. In both cases, people succumbed to the majority opinion and took a convincingly presented false point of view for the truth. In addition, rumors often appear in conditions of a lack of information. In the first case, customers did not know the meaning of the logo, and in the second case, they did not have details about the personal life of employees. Therefore, in the absence of facts, a person seeking information had to rely on non-authoritative sources or colleagues.
The study of the psychology of rumors is essential for two reasons. First, rumors are a basic form of self-expression of mass moods and public opinion. Secondly, it is one of the most effective channels of influencing mass behavior. For example, it is a method to eliminate competitors from the market or create conditions for a competitor at work that may result in dismissal. Rumors cannot be banned, just as other manifestations of mass psychology cannot be prohibited. They will always be one of the forms of the mental functioning of society.
Works Cited
Behrens, Laurence, and Leonard J. Rosen. “Have You Heard This: The Latest on Rumor.” Writing And Reading Across the Curriculum, edited by Lynn M. Huddon, Longman, 2018, pp. 443-476.
Chen, Xuelong, and Nan Wang. “Rumor Spreading Model Considering Rumor Credibility, Correlation and Crowd Classification Based on Personality.” Scientific Reports, vol. 10, no.7, 2020, pp. 625-638.