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When social psychology became less social: Prasad and the history of rumor research
Author(s) -
Bordia Prashant,
DiFonzo Nicholas
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
asian journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.5
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1467-839X
pISSN - 1367-2223
DOI - 10.1111/1467-839x.00093
Subject(s) - rumor , prasad , conceptualization , mirroring , mainstream , psychology , social psychology , emotional contagion , gossip , sociology , social science , epistemology , public relations , political science , philosophy , theology , artificial intelligence , computer science , law
Rumor research, in general, and its delayed incorporation of the work of rumor researcher Jamuna Prasad, in particular, exemplify how the intellectual climate of American social psychology discouraged the development of social approaches. In the present paper, we explain his conceptualization of how rumors start and spread, and explore findings from subsequent research supporting or negating his propositions. It is our contention that, although Prasad had identified the basic variables involved in rumor generation and transmission correctly, mainstream social psychological research in the 1940s did not incorporate his contributions. Instead, mirroring the Zeitgeist of American social psychology, rumor research was approached from a predominantly individual level of analysis. In the present paper, the authors have tried to resurrect some of the group‐level variables from Prasad’s treatment of rumor and to suggest that social psychology adopt a more ‘social’ approach to rumor.

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