LARAMIE, Wyo. - A University of Wyoming associate professor is teaming up with other researchers to study how urban legends and rumors in general spread within groups and what contributes to their longevity.
Martin J. Bourgeois, associate professor of psychology, said much is known how rumors are spread by individuals.
"We know if somebody is anxious or uncertain they're more prone to spread a rumor. We also know negative rumors get passed more easily than positive ones. But at the group level, rumors are more difficult to predict because more complex variables are involved," he said.
"If we can find out how these rumors form and proliferate, maybe we can determine ways to counteract them, especially the false ones with negative consequences," he said.
Such information would be especially beneficial to large corporations and government groups, according to Bourgeois.
Also participating in the study are researchers at New York's Rochester Institute of Technology and the University of Southern Australia.
The project is backed by a $749,000 grant from the National Science Foundation.
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