Bad news becomes become increasingly negative and inaccurate when passed from person to person
By UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK June 9, 2018
News stories about terrorism, disease outbreaks, natural disasters, and other potential threats become increasingly negative, inaccurate and hysterical when passed from person to person, according to new research by the University of Warwick.
Led by Professor Thomas Hills in Warwicks Department of Psychology, the study finds that even drawing the publics attention to unbiased, neutral facts does not mitigate this contagion of panic.
This is the first research ever to investigate the impact of dread on the social amplification of threat, and to examine the re-exposure of balanced information on the social diffusion of messages.
The results have important implications for contemporary society with the constant proliferation of news stories (both legitimate and fake), rumours, retweets and messages across social media.
More:
http://www.psypost.org/2018/06/bad-news-becomes-become-increasingly-negative-inaccurate-passed-person-person-51424