Robert E. Bartholomew - A Colorful History of Popular Delusions

Rumors are unverified stories of perceived importance that lack substantiating evidence. They occur within a backdrop of anxiety and ambiguity, and they must contain an element of plausibility, otherwise they would be dismissed as lacking credibility and would not be passed on. Rumors are always making the rounds, but are most common during times of crisis and uncertainty. The topic is challenging for social scientists to study because rumors are dynamic and constantly changing, giving rise to a myriad of variations. They are both frustrating to track down and complex to interpret, because while they may be true or false, they often fall somewhere in between.

While many rumors are predominantly false, they typically contain elements of truth. For instance, in 1750, when a kidnapping scare swept through Paris, it had a foundation in reality. Authorities, in an effort to clear the streets of beggars and other undesirables, had enacted a series of ordinances to address the issue, but police exceeded their authority and temporarily placed a number of children in houses of detention before they were reclaimed by their worried parents. The missing children fostered claims that King Louis XV was suffering from leprosy and was having children kidnapped in order to cure his condition by bathing in their blood. The scare triggered riots and angry scenes as mobs began chasing suspected kidnappers through the streets.

American sociologist Tamotsu Shibutani describes rumors as improvised news that spreads rapidly when demand for information exceeds the supply. This is why rumors flourish during periods of war and crises. Hence, the greater the importance and uncertainty, the more likely rumors are to appear and thrive. Shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, and the destruction of the World Trade Center in 2001, amid conflicting reports and claims, rumors of imminent terrorist attacks on US targets swirled across the United States.

Conversely, the less interest and importance in a topic, the less likely it is to generate rumors. Thus, if just prior to the world yo-yo championships, a rumor spread that the reigning champ had sprained his index finger, it is unlikely to spread like wildfire across the country, as most people would have little interest in the outcome of the competition. Yet, if your daughter was the second ranked yo-yo player in the world, lived in a yo-yo mad community, and was competing for a hefty cash prize, the likelihood of rumors spreading through her hometown, and the yo-yo fraternity in general, would be high.

The more likely a rumor is deemed to be true, the more likely it is to be passed on. Rumors typically last from a few days or weeks to several months. On rare occasions they can endure for years. Contrary to popular belief, the appearances of most rumors are not deliberate, malicious attempts to spread uncomplimentary information about a person or organization. In reality, the content is impossible to control and often branches in unexpected directions. Most rumors are unconsciously generated in ambiguous situations of perceived importance as people construct stories in an effort to gain certainty and reduce fear and anxiety.

Some researchers have cleverly tried to plant rumors in hopes of influencing consumer decisions to buy their product. Such attempts usually fail. For example, sociologist Richard LaPiere reports that during the Great Depression in the United States, an advertising agency paid actors to spread rumors about certain products, believing it would increase sales.

Traditionally, rumors have spread by word of mouth during face-to-face interaction. In modern times, telephones, the mass media, and Internet-based social networks have been the primary mode of spread. Rumors thrive on controversy and confusion and tend to swarm around a few key issues. Sociologist Gary Fine notes that several issues are especially rife with rumors: race and ethnicity, migration, globalization, corporate misconduct, and government corruption.

In 1947, Harvard psychologists Gordon Allport and Leo Postman published The Psychology of Rumor, the first scientific study of the field.

A classic example of assimilation took place in the hours and days following the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, as rumors questioning the loyalty of Japanese-Americans, spread quickly across the Hawaiian Islands. Such fears, while unfounded, had long been the subject of concern on the Islands as 160,000 Hawaiians had Japanese ancestry. Shibutani recounts some of the rumors, which included claims that a ring from a local high school (McKinley High) was found on the body of a Japanese flier shot down over Honolulu; the water supply had been poisoned by the local Japanese; Japanese plantation workers had cut arrows pointing to Pearl Harbor in the cane field of Oahu; the local Japanese had been notified of the attack by an advertisement in a Honolulu newspaper on December 6;automobiles driven by local Japanese blocked the roads from Honolulu to Pearl Harbor; Japanese residents waved their kimonos at the pilots and signaled to them; [and] some local men were dressed in Japanese Army uniforms during the attack.

Contemporary research on rumors has identified other key elements in their formation, not noted by Allport and Postman, including anxiety relief,

Social scientists have identified different types of rumors. Bogy rumors make reference to an imminent disaster such as a tsunami or flood. On February 8, 1761, minor earth tremors struck London, followed by another quake a month later, prompting rumors that a great earthquake was to strike the city on April 5 after a psychic predicted the calamity. Much of the city's population left for the day.

Pipe-dream rumors (sometimes referred to as magical- or wishful-thinking rumors) are stories that people hope are true. For instance, once the US bombing of the Taliban in Afghanistan began in response to the September 11, 2001, terror attacks on the United States, rumors spread that Osama bin Laden had been killed in an American-led bombing raid. Another story held that he had died of kidney failure. Yet another series of rumors had him succumbing to a lung ailment. In reality, bin Laden was alive, in reasonably good health, and eventually found living in Pakistan. There were even rumors that bin Laden was hiding in the United States.

Scapegoating rumors blame an innocent person or group for allegedly perpetrating a nefarious deed. Throughout history, Jews have often been the subject of poisoning claims. For instance, in 1321, Jews in Guienne, France, were rumored to have poisoned local wells, resulting in an estimated five thousand people being burned alive for their alleged involvement. During the Black Death which spread through Europe during the latter Middle Ages, thousands of Jews were executed following rumors that Satan was protecting them in exchange for their poisoning the wells of Christians.widespread scapegoating rumors in the Arab-Islamic world that the World Trade Center attacks had been orchestrated by the Mossad (the Israeli secret service) in a cunning attempt to foul pro-Muslim sentiment for Middle Eastern countries.

Some researchers refer to divingrumors, which recur periodically, suddenly appearing and disappearing.

Product rumors are another common type and focus on stories about popular consumer goods. In the 1950s, it was rumored that an employee at a Coca-Cola plant had suddenly disappeared under mysterious circumstances. It was eventually determined, so the account goes, that he had fallen into a large vat of Coke, and the acid dissolved his body.

Atrocity rumors