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Journal of Health Communication
International Perspectives
Volume 17, 2012 - Issue 9
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Original Articles

Rumors About Cancer: Content, Sources, Coping, Transmission, and Belief

Nicholas DiFonzo Department of Psychology, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York, USACorrespondence[email protected]
,
Nicole M. Robinson Department of Communication, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA
,
Jerry M. Suls Department of Psychology and College of Public Health, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
&
Christine Rini University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
Pages 1099-1115 | Published online: 22 Jun 2012

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Shuting Yang, Zhenzhen Liu, Xinying Jiang, Xiaomin Sun, Yiqin Lin, Yue Yuan, Yiming Zhu, Qi Zhao, Yueqin Hu & Tianxin Wang. (2023) Understanding Rumor Sharing Behavior During COVID-19: The Dominant Motivation and the Potential Consequences for Life Satisfaction. The Journal of Psychology 157:5, pages 339-366.
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Rui Wang, Yuan He, Jing Xu & Hongzhong Zhang. (2020) Fake news or bad news? Toward an emotion-driven cognitive dissonance model of misinformation diffusion. Asian Journal of Communication 30:5, pages 317-342.
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Jisoo Ahn, Lee Ann Kahlor & Ghee-Young Noh. (2020) Outbreak! Socio-cognitive motivators of risk information sharing during the 2018 South Korean MERS-CoV epidemic. Journal of Risk Research 23:7-8, pages 945-961.
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M. Laeeq Khan & Ika Karlina Idris. (2019) Recognise misinformation and verify before sharing: a reasoned action and information literacy perspective. Behaviour & Information Technology 38:12, pages 1194-1212.
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Miria Chitukuta, Zoe Duby, Ariana Katz, Teopista Nakyanzi, Krishnaveni Reddy, Thesla Palanee-Phillips, Tchangani Tembo, Juliane Etima, Petina Musara, Nyaradzo M. Mgodi & Ariane van der Straten. (2019) Negative rumours about a vaginal ring for HIV-1 prevention in sub-Saharan Africa. Culture, Health & Sexuality 21:11, pages 1209-1224.
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Leticia Bode & Emily K. Vraga. (2018) See Something, Say Something: Correction of Global Health Misinformation on Social Media. Health Communication 33:9, pages 1131-1140.
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Sebastian Martin. (2017) Toward a Model of Word-of-Mouth in the Health Care Sector. Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing 29:4, pages 434-449.
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Articles from other publishers (49)

Xinying Jiang, Nan Zhang, Xiaomin Sun, Shuting Yang, Mengxi Dong, Yue Yuan, Yiqin Lin, Zhenzhen Liu, Yiming Zhu & Qi Zhao. (2023) Rumour type matters: The effect of different types of rumours on coping, subjective well‐being, and interpersonal trust during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Stress and Health 39:5, pages 1124-1136.
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Lingfei Wang, Mengmeng Yue & Guoyan Wang. (2023) Too Real to be Questioned: Analysis of the Factors Influencing the Spread of Online Scientific Rumors in China. SAGE Open 13:4.
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Yan Tu, Linqi Cheng, Liyi Liu, Zongmin Li & Benjamin Lev. (2023) How to improve the rumor-confutation ability of official rumor-refuting account on social media: A Chinese case study. Computer Communications 209, pages 331-348.
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Yue Yuan, Shuting Yang, Xinying Jiang, Xiaomin Sun, Yiqin Lin, Zhenzhen Liu, Yiming Zhu & Qi Zhao. (2022) Trust in government buffers the negative effect of rumor exposure on people’s emotions. Current Psychology 42:27, pages 23917-23930.
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Mai P. Nguyen, Amina Tariq, Reece Hinchcliff & Michael P. Dunne. (2023) Why do consumers choose private over public health services? Reflective accounts of health providers in Vietnam. BMC Health Services Research 23:1.
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Qian Ding & Xingyu Luo. (2022) People with High Perceived Infectability Are More Likely to Spread Rumors in the Context of COVID-19: A Behavioral Immune System Perspective. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 20:1, pages 703.
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Iraida V. Carrion, Malinee Neelamegam, Terri D. Lewinson, Keisha Polonio & Crystal Bonano. (2022) Words of wisdom from older immigrant Latino/as with cancer. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 9:1.
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Lourdes S. Martinez. 2022. The International Encyclopedia of Health Communication. The International Encyclopedia of Health Communication 1 6 .
Kim Jonas, Zoe Duby, Kealeboga Maruping, Jane Harries & Catherine Mathews. (2022) Rumours, myths, and misperceptions as barriers to contraceptive use among adolescent girls and young women in South Africa. Frontiers in Reproductive Health 4.
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Bolanle Olapeju, Camille Adams, Joann Simpson, Lyndsey Mitchum, Sean Wilson, Mona Jarrah, Gabrielle Hunter, TrishAnn Davis, Alicia Martin, Shabana Shaw, Natalie Tibbels, Jennifer Orkis & J. Douglas Storey. (2022) Addressing COVID-19 Rumors and Behaviors Using Theory in Guyana: A Program Case Study. Global Health: Science and Practice 10:4, pages e2200071.
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Qian Liu & Fan Yang. (2022) Health as Battlefield: News and Misinformation in the Early Stage of COVID-19 Outbreak. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19:16, pages 9800.
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Traian Soare, Ciprian Ianovici, Iuliana-Raluca Gheorghe, Victor Lorin Purcărea & Cristina Maria Soare. (2022) A word-of-mouth perspective on consumers of family medicine services: a case study. Journal of Medicine and Life 15:5, pages 655-660.
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Yan Wang, Feng Qing & Lei Wang. (2022) Rumor Dynamic Model considering Intentional Spreaders in Social Network. Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society 2022, pages 1-10.
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Lu (Monroe) Meng, Tongmao Li, Xin Huang & Shaobo (Kevin) Li. (2021) Lift the veil of rumors: the impact of the characteristics of information sources on the effectiveness of rumors spreading. Internet Research 32:1, pages 90-119.
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Yan Wang, Feng Qing & Ming Yan. (2022) Dynamics of 2SIH2R Rumor-Spreading Model in a Heterogeneous Network. Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing 2022, pages 1-13.
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钰昱 王. (2022) Research on the Influence of Adding Warnings on Different Types of Online Health Rumor Sharing Intention. Advances in Applied Mathematics 11:09, pages 6288-6297.
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David Robert Grimes. (2022) The Struggle against Cancer Misinformation. Cancer Discovery 12:1, pages 26-30.
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Xiaopeng Yao, Yue Gu, Chonglin Gu & Hejiao Huang. (2022) Fast controlling of rumors with limited cost in social networks. Computer Communications 182, pages 41-51.
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Suyalatu Dong. (2021) A Class of Public Opinion Dissemination Model considering the Information Screening Mechanism. Security and Communication Networks 2021, pages 1-12.
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Natalie Tibbels, Abdul Dosso, Aliya Allen-Valley, William Benie, Corinne Fordham, Jeanne Aka Brou, Marjorie Nana, Valère Zounneme, Korodénin Fatoumata Silué, Diarra Kamara & Danielle Naugle. (2021) Real-Time Tracking of COVID-19 Rumors Using Community-Based Methods in Côte d'Ivoire. Global Health: Science and Practice 9:2, pages 355-364.
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Viorela Dan. (2021) Von Fehlinformationen lernenLearning from misinformation. Publizistik 66:2, pages 277-294.
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Haixia Wang, Xiqian Zou, Kaisheng Lai, Weiping Luo & Lingnan He. (2021) Does Quality of Life Act as a Protective Factor against Believing Health Rumors? Evidence from a National Cross-Sectional Survey in China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18:9, pages 4669.
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Arunima Krishna & Teresa L. Thompson. (2019) Misinformation About Health: A Review of Health Communication and Misinformation Scholarship. American Behavioral Scientist 65:2, pages 316-332.
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Peggy Liu, Ling-Ling Yeh, Jiun-Yi Wang & Shao-Ti Lee. (2020) Relationship Between Levels of Digital Health Literacy Based on the Taiwan Digital Health Literacy Assessment and Accurate Assessment of Online Health Information: Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study. Journal of Medical Internet Research 22:12, pages e19767.
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Petra Pelletier & Ewa Drozda‐Senkowska. (2020) Towards a socially situated rumouring: Historical and critical perspectives of rumour transmission. Social and Personality Psychology Compass 14:6.
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Yuko TanakaRumi Hirayama. (2019) Exposure to Countering Messages Online: Alleviating or Strengthening False Belief?. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking 22:11, pages 742-746.
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Alex Broom, Katherine Kenny, Emma Kirby & Zarnie Lwin. (2018) The collective/affective practice of cancer survivorship. The British Journal of Sociology 70:4, pages 1582-1601.
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Anjan Pal, Alton Y.K. Chua & Dion Hoe-Lian Goh. (2019) Debunking rumors on social media: The use of denials. Computers in Human Behavior 96, pages 110-122.
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Erin E Donovan & Kristen LeBlanc Farris. (2019) Interpersonal Communication and Coping with Cancer: A Multidisciplinary Theoretical Review of the Literature. Communication Theory 29:2, pages 236-256.
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Samar Issa Albarghouthi & Sven Hroar Klempe. (2018) “Al-Khabith”—The malignant cunning disease: Sociocultural complexity and social representations of cancer in the occupied Palestinian territory. Culture & Psychology 25:1, pages 99-131.
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Anjan Pal & Snehasish Banerjee. 2019. Handbook of Research on Deception, Fake News, and Misinformation Online. Handbook of Research on Deception, Fake News, and Misinformation Online 1 17 .
Ji Won Kim. (2018) Rumor has it: The effects of virality metrics on rumor believability and transmission on Twitter. New Media & Society 20:12, pages 4807-4825.
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Alton Y.K. Chua & Snehasish Banerjee. (2018) Intentions to trust and share online health rumors: An experiment with medical professionals. Computers in Human Behavior 87, pages 1-9.
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Lydia Jo Harkin, Kinta Beaver, Paola Dey & Kartina Choong. (2017) Navigating cancer using online communities: a grounded theory of survivor and family experiences. Journal of Cancer Survivorship 11:6, pages 658-669.
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Alton Y. K. Chua, Rajiv Aricat & Dion Goh. (2017) Message content in the life of rumors: Comparing three rumor types. Message content in the life of rumors: Comparing three rumor types.
Alton Y. K. Chua & Snehasish Banerjee. (2017) Rumor verifications on Facebook: Click speech of likes, comments and shares. Rumor verifications on Facebook: Click speech of likes, comments and shares.
Kelly M Greenhill & Ben Oppenheim. (2017) Rumor Has It: The Adoption of Unverified Information in Conflict Zones. International Studies Quarterly 61:3, pages 660-676.
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Sebastian Martin. (2016) Word-of-mouth in the health care sector: a literature analysis of the current state of research and future perspectives. International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing 14:1, pages 35-56.
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Jada G. Hamilton, Sarah E. Lillie, Dana L. Alden, Laura Scherer, Megan Oser, Christine Rini, Miho Tanaka, John Baleix, Mikki Brewster, Simon Craddock Lee, Mary K. Goldstein, Robert M. Jacobson, Ronald E. Myers, Brian J. Zikmund-Fisher & Erika A. Waters. (2016) What is a good medical decision? A research agenda guided by perspectives from multiple stakeholders. Journal of Behavioral Medicine 40:1, pages 52-68.
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Valentin Nădăşan. (2016) The Quality of Online Health-Related Information – an Emergent Consumer Health Issue. Acta Medica Marisiensis 62:4, pages 408-421.
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Valentin Nădăşan. (2016) Should Critical Care Professionals Take Hoaxes/Rumours Seriously?. The Journal of Critical Care Medicine 2:4, pages 205-206.
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Xun Zhu & Rachel Smith. (2016) Advancing Research on the Spread of Stigmatizing Beliefs With Insights From Rumor Transmission. American Behavioral Scientist 60:11, pages 1342-1361.
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Mauro Mazzocut, Ivana Truccolo, Marialuisa Antonini, Fabio Rinaldi, Paolo Omero, Emanuela Ferrarin, Paolo De Paoli & Carlo Tasso. (2016) Web Conversations About Complementary and Alternative Medicines and Cancer: Content and Sentiment Analysis. Journal of Medical Internet Research 18:6, pages e120.
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Zili Zhang, Ziqiong Zhang & Hengyun Li. (2015) Predictors of the authenticity of Internet health rumours. Health Information & Libraries Journal 32:3, pages 195-205.
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Andy S. L. Tan, Chul-joo Lee & Jiyoung Chae. (2015) Exposure to Health (Mis)Information: Lagged Effects on Young Adults' Health Behaviors and Potential Pathways. Journal of Communication 65:4, pages 674-698.
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Akira Sato, Eiji Aramaki, Yumiko Shimamoto, Shiro Tanaka & Koji Kawakami. (2015) Blog Posting After Lung Cancer Notification: Content Analysis of Blogs Written by Patients or Their Families. JMIR Cancer 1:1, pages e5.
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Alton Y.K. Chua & Snehasish Banerjee. 2015. Digital Libraries: Providing Quality Information. Digital Libraries: Providing Quality Information 33 38 .
B. E. Weeks & R. K. Garrett. (2014) Electoral Consequences of Political Rumors: Motivated Reasoning, Candidate Rumors, and Vote Choice during the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election. International Journal of Public Opinion Research 26:4, pages 401-422.
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Prashant Bordia & Nicholas DiFonzo. 2013. The Psychology of Organizational Change. The Psychology of Organizational Change 232 252 .

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