Ask Professor Nick

Gossip is Good, Even in the Lab

admin — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 15:38:30 +0000

The primary functions of gossip are to inform, influence, entertain, enhance friendship, reinforce moral standards, and help in making decisions. Gossip helps us to understand our own abilities, shortcomings, and problems, and sets parameters for our behavior… continued…

Caltech Earthquake Rumor Shakes Twittersphere

admin — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 15:52:18 +0000

For several days, a rumor has been spreading wildly over the internet, compliments of Twitter and Facebook. It started with a tweet that claimed Caltech was sending employees and students home because seismologists were predicting a major earthquake was about to hit the Southland… continued…

TwitterGlitter.com | Celeb Death Rumors Catch Fire Online

admin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:00:51 +0000

”Just hearing about celebrities dying makes it seem more probable,” says Nicholas DiFonzo, author of “The Watercooler Effect” and a psychology professor at Rochester Institute of Technology. ”So [the rumors] tend to occur in an… continued…

Expert on Rumors Offers his Advice | North Dakota Business Watch

admin — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:00:16 +0000

Nicholas DiFonzo, psychology professor at Rochester Institute of Technology, has studied rumors, hearsay and gossip since 1992. DiFonzo is currently leading a project funded by the National Science Foundation to study how rumors spread… continued…

Mind Matters: Gossip in the Lab | Proceed with Caution

admin — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:59:38 +0000

“Gossip has a bad reputation, which, for the most part, is well-deserved,” says Nicholas DiFonzo, a psychologist at the Rochester Institute of Technology in… continued…

In the Books | Off to the Printers V « 800 CEO Read Daily Blog

admin — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 14:58:53 +0000

In The Watercooler Effect, Nicholas DiFonzo explains how stories, in the form of gossip and rumors, can take flight even in the midst of contradicting data. DiFonzo, like all authors in the field of human behavior, offers solutions to… continued…

When Gossip Is Good | The Social Value of Tiger’s Transgressions

admin — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 13:58:01 +0000

Is all this gossip about Tiger Woods just useless prattle, or worse? Friday, he said he’s taking an “indefinite break” from golf and spending his time “being a better husband, father and person,” but don’t we have anything better to do with our time? Or is there something about all the sordid chatter that has a redeeming purpose?

Gossip has a bad reputation, and deservedly so. Despite its guilty pleasures, gossip is often meant to hurt people. It can be used to exclude, slander, or attack others… continued…

Rumors And How to Manage Them

admin — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:57:15 +0000

Did you know that the human mind can actually lead you to remember a false statement as true by hearing that it’s false? With the fast-paced lives we all lead, that oddly makes sense to me.

I recently learned of Nick DiFonzo, Professor of Psychology at Rochester Institute of Technology, one of the leading experts on rumor research… continued…

Death by Cliff Plunge, With a Push From Twitter

admin — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 05:55:33 +0000

Nicholas DiFonzo, a professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology who studies the psychology of rumors, said that the mass confusion over Mr. Jackson’s sudden death probably left people craving… continued…

SURVEY: Few People Believed Campaign Rumors about Obama, McCain

admin — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 14:53:52 +0000

Garrett and James N. Danziger, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, commissioned a representative national telephone survey of 600 Americans to learn continued…