The Social Psychology Behind Robert Smith's Grooming Allegations
The Cure is a rock band from England that formed in 1976 who was at the forefront of the New Wave, Post-Punk, and Goth movements in music. The main singer, and most popular member of the band, is Robert Smith- a charming man with melancholy eyes and a distinct haircut. The Cure quickly began garnering mainstream success in the 80s after incorporating more pop elements into their songs. With this success came great support that marked the commencement of die-hard fans for the band. This support would later be the fuel for motivated skepticism toward somebody accusing Robert Smith of grooming them.
In June of 2023, a woman by the name of Danielle R Sklaar came forward online to share a story that involved both her and Robert Smith. Sklaar revealed that when she was 14 and Smith was 25, they became friends, and eventually he began to commit violent acts against her. These acts included sleeping on top of her, spitting food in her mouth, and grooming her against her will (Rao, 2023). These accusations spurred a great deal of surprise and shock to both fans of Smith “owing to his legendary status,” (Anbuselvan, 2023) and the general public.
There were very contrasting reactions to the allegations. On the one hand, fans thought these accusations were so egregious that they began harassing Sklaar online, calling her a liar and attention seeker. “I don’t trust her,”(Lilith, 2023). On the other hand, those who were not fans of The Cure believed Sklaar immediately. “I stand with Robert Smith’s victims. It’s good people are voicing their support,”(Hades, 2023). Many switched sides after discovering new information, “If you look into it the allegations literally make zero sense. There’s an entire Reddit thread debunking this person’s credibility,”(Ollie, 2023). The disparate responses to the grooming allegations against Robert Smith can be explained by the social psychological theories of biased evidence evaluation, the Dual process approach to persuasion, and motivated skepticism.
Biased evidence evaluation, or selective evaluation means that “People who are personally motivated will be more skeptical of information that challenges cherished beliefs,”(Ditto & Lopez, 1992). Biased evidence evaluation is the way people choose to interpret a situation based on prior beliefs. Fans of The Cure cherished the music they associated with Smith so much that their primary reaction to hearing the accusations was to be skeptical of them. People who were not familiar with The Cure or Robert Smith, before the allegations, were less skeptical of the evidence given by Sklaar, and shunned Robert Smith for his alleged actions. Many went to social media to voice their support for Sklaar. Fans’ denial of the situation, despite the multiple sources they could explore to get a broader context of the situation, actively demonstrates that their “cherished” beliefs had been challenged because they proceeded with doubt. The general public’s lack of bias for Smith made them explore the information as given. Many studies have shown that “people are inclined to attend selectively to information that confirms their original attitudes,”(Gilovich et al., 2023) indicating that initial skepticism of a situation that one does not want to believe is a sign of bias.
The Dual process approach to persuasion explains that there are two routes that can be taken to persuade an individual. One requires active thinking about what is being presented and relies on logical arguments- it is called the central route to persuasion. The other requires no thinking and relies on cues that are easy to digest, such as attractiveness or likeability- it is called the peripheral route to persuasion. To make it simpler to understand, information that is consistent with a preferred conclusion is accepted unthinkingly at “face value”(Ditto, 2023), while information inconsistent with a preferred conclusion receives more intense elaboration.
The initial reactions, by fans of The Cure, towards the allegations, were of shock and denial. They then processed the information given through their central route, logically and intensely. “I was up for 3 hrs last night doing research, the claims don’t look like they matching up,”(Worm, 2023). According to the Gilovech et al. text, “people are especially likely to go through this route when motivation is high.” Fans were sensitive to the quality of the arguments provided by Sklaar and they were motivated by their love for Smith’s music.
The reaction of the general public was also of shock, but since they had no motivation to scrutinize the information given, they accepted it as it was. They processed the information through the peripheral route. Their emotions of empathy towards Sklaar were enough to convince them that the information she was providing was true. According to information derived from ELM studies, the only thing that matters in the act of persuasion ,when a topic is of low relevance, is the peripheral cue. In this case, the peripheral cues were feelings of empathy towards a potential victim.
The difference between the fans and the general public reactions is an example of the Dual process approach to persuasion. Fans gave higher elaboration to Sklaar’s arguments against Smith, while the general public accepted the information provided unthinkingly through peripheral cues.
Motivated skepticism is the tendency that people have to be more skeptical of unwanted information than wanted information, it is also known as cognitive bias. It is similar to the concept of biased evidence evaluation, but they differ in the way that motivated skepticism stems from preferences for certain outcomes, while biased evidence evaluation stems from the way people interpret information according to prior beliefs.
Fans of The Cure demonstrated motivated skepticism in the way that they approached the allegations of grooming. Nobody wants to hear that somebody they look up to and idolize is capable of doing things that go against the norm, it is unwanted information. “ROBERT SMITH GROOMING ALLEGATIONS ARE ACTUALLY GOING TO KILL ME WTF I'VE BEEN CALLING [him] MY LORD AND SAVIOR??? I HATE IT HERE” (Ironasss, 2023). Since this information was unwanted, it led many fans to hold the preferred outcome that Smith was innocent. People who were not fans did not hold this motivated skepticism, so, although the information given was not necessarily positive, there were no wanted or unwanted outcomes.
The varying responses to the Robert Smith grooming allegation are better understood through the lens of social psychology. Biased evidence evaluation, the Dual process approach to persuasion, and motivated skepticism all help explain reasons as to why people reacted the way they did in this particular situation. The purpose of this analysis is not about whether people were wrong or right for choosing a side, it is more about understanding how they formed their personal conclusions, in order to be more accepting of them.
References
Karishma, R. (2023, July 13). What did Robert Smith do? Grooming allegations explored as disbelief erupts among The Cure fans. SK Pop.
Kishan-Anbuselvan, S. The Cure’s Robert Smith faces Grooming Allegations | Viral Video Circulates Online. SpielTimes.
https://www.spieltimes.com/news/the-cures-robert-smith-faces-grooming-allegations-viral-video-circulates-online/
Gilovich, T., Keltner, D., Chen, S., & Nisbett, R. E. (2023). Chapter 7 – Persuasion. In Social Psychology (Sixth Edition) (Sixth ed., pp. 239-244). W. W. Norton & Company.
https://nerd.wwnorton.com/nerd/229326/r/goto/cfi/130!/4?control=control-toc
Ironass. (2023, June 28). Robert Smith Grooming Allegations [Tweet]. Twitter.
Lilithisdead. (2023, June 29). What does everyone think about the Robert Smith situation cuz I don’t trust her [Video]. TikTok.
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