THE INFLUENCE OF PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS ON RUMOR KNOWLEDGE AND TRANSMISSION AMONG THE DEAF

Students who viewed themselves as members of the deaf culture listed a ll the current rumors they knew and the number of people to whom they typically transmit rumors. These two rumor variables, knowledge and tr ansmission, were related to general anxiety level, extraversion, gende r, self-reported preferred mode of communication, and type of high sch ool attended. Congruent with previous research on hearing populations, deaf participants who were more anxious knew more rumors than did les s anxious deaf participants. Results unique to the deaf population are also discussed.