WHY ARE WE SO READY TO BELIEVE RUMORS?

            A rumor means a fact that a lot of people are talking about although they do not know if it is true according to the Cambridge Dictionary Online. They are spread by word of mouth through the population over the phone, on social media, in cafes, on the street, at work by the water cooler, over the garden fence and the like. Most rumours are readily believed and eagerly passed on.   However, why are we so ready to believe rumors? There are certain reasons for this.

            Firstly, when we hear positive rumors about ourselves  , we derive pleasure from this. Sometimes even if they are wrong, this is not a problem for us because they sound nice. We are also ready to believe positive rumors about people who we like. We do not want to hear anything negative about them because this would not be pleasurable; on the contrary, this may irritate us. Moreover, we would like to believe rumors about a place or a person, if they are favorable. For example, we want to go to a cafe next weekend. We heard something about it from our friends. They told us it has delicious food, kind waiters and also good service. These comments influence us positively, and we decide to go there. Maybe, we will not be satisfied; however, we have favorable information about it, and we know that the cafe is a good place. Therefore, we will be ready to be satisfied there. As can be seen, rumors and comments affect us easily.

            When it comes to other reasons for this, one of them is being irresolute. For instance, we decide to marry a woman/man, but we are doubtful about him/her. There are some things which bother us. So, we can ask somebody. We want to learn their opinions about him/her. Since we are irresolute, we are likely to believe what we hear. At such a time, we need only information, so being positive or negative does not affect us negatively. On the contrary, it will ease decision making/ it will make it  easier to decide. What is more, another cause of this is our love of gossip. Most people do not approve of gossip, but it is already known that gossip has an important role in our lives, unfortunately. When people meet each other gossip emerges willy-nilly. While gossiping , rumors spread from person to person. Ultimately, people believe these rumors.

            To sum up, there are certain reasons for being ready to believe rumors. The fact that they please us, make decision making easier and provide  information about somebody although we do not know whether it is true are some causes of this. If we have not enough information about somebody or something, rumors influence us easily. This may have positive or negative results. That is why in my opinion, we should try not to decide according to rumors, generally.