Why can't we resist gossip? Science explains!

Why can't we resist gossip? Science explains!

Gossip is often understood as the harmful dissemination of information about other people and as a highly attractive part of celebrity culture. But sociologists disagree. Humans are actually hardwired to care and participate in gossip. And let's face it: Whether we're having coffee at work or at family gatherings, we love talking about people. But this tendency is actually an evolutionary adaptation. However, don't get ahead of yourself, there is a right way and a wrong way to gossip.

Check out this gallery about how gossip started, developed, how necessary it became, how dangerous it became, as well as some general guidelines to make sure you don't make a mistake.

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Modern negative connotation

Gossip is generally viewed as negative and harmful rumors against someone. Or invasion of privacy in the case of news related to celebrities.

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Definition of gossip

However, most researchers define gossip as any instance of talking about someone who does not exist and sharing information that is not generally known.

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Evidence relating to gossip from ancient times

The cave drawings we're looking at now are in the realm of archaeology, but at their roots, what we're looking at is ancient gossip. These are the people who monitor and alert others to what is happening.

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Knowledge is power

Frank McAndrew, an expert on human social behavior and gossip, asserts that our ancestors were equally fascinated by the lives of other, more successful people.

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Survival tactic

For Stone Age cavemen to thrive, in order to succeed, they had to know who was sleeping with whom, who had the most power, who had access to resources, and so on.

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An old communication tool

Evolutionary psychologist Robin Dunbar pioneered the idea that gossip evolved as a means of bonding among primates. Instead of picking fleas off each other, we talk. And what could be better than talking about others, especially when fields such as technology and even philosophy have not yet advanced?

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The key to forming communities

Dunbar also argues that without these discussions about social and personal issues, we cannot sustain the communities we create.

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52 minutes daily

In a 2019 analysis published in the journal Social Psychology and Personality Science, it was reported that the average person spends 52 minutes a day gossiping.

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467 topics, most of them neutral

Of those 52 minutes, the average person covers 467 topics. Three-quarters (75%) of this gossip is usually neutral and relatively boring, such as documenting facts such as “She was stuck late at work.”

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About 15% were negative

About 15% of gossip is of the negative kind, what researchers call “evaluative” judgment.

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Only 9% were positive

Positive gossip is expected to be less common than negative gossip.

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Active and passive gossip

One 2012 study Those who looked at physiological reactions to gossip found that when individuals heard about antisocial behavior or injustice to another person, their heart rate increased. When they were allowed to actively chatter about the person, it calmed them down and lowered their heart rates. We seem to naturally prefer active participation.

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Neutral gossip has a job

Neutral gossip actually helps us build friendships and create a sense of community, as well as learn vital information that can help us shape our social lives.

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Building confidence

When you reveal information to someone, you are signaling that you trust them with that information, which can be positive for the relationship.

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Stereotypes gossip

Gossip is also attributed to lower classes and women, but data refute this, gossip is equally present among all races and classes.

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Only when it is harmful

Scientists argue that gossip is entirely harmful when it provides no opportunity for social learning. This includes rude comments about someone's appearance or inappropriate comments.

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Judgment can be done well

One positive effect that gossip provides is cultural learning, forcing people to behave better and think carefully about what they do. When someone's reputation precedes it, for example, we know that there has been gossip, but this can be positive or negative depending on how it is done.

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Having gossip is a moral impediment

When a group gossips, shared information and judgments can serve as a guideline for ethical behavior. For example, if the group is gossiping about someone who is unimportant, any lazy person in the group will try to modify their behavior because they do not want to risk being the target of gossip as well.

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Cultural learning

Gossip can also be a great way to learn the unwritten rules of the environment. For example, coffee conversations at a new job can help you figure out the office dress code or whether it's better to avoid working with him on a group project.

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Habits of the elderly and the mechanism of bonding

Sociology professor Stacy Torres studied gossip among seniors who live alone in New York. Their research revealed that older people use gossip as a way to communicate and combat loneliness.

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A way to maintain connections while venting

Gossip also provides an opportunity for people to vent without damaging those social connections. Torres found that even when seniors' chatter seems negative, it also tends to be thoughtful.

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What about celebrities?

While it's clear why we care about people we interact with regularly, who sociologists describe as “socially important,” why should we care about famous people we've never met and probably never will?

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How does someone become “socially important”

Knowing a lot of information about someone becomes a signal to our cave-dwelling brains that this person is important to us.

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Information overload

Now, in the modern information age, we know a lot about people we've never met before, thanks to the Internet and social media. Our brains are thus tricked into believing that celebrities are socially important to us.

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We gravitate towards celebrities with whom we can identify

One study even showed that we tend to be drawn to celebrity gossip about people of the same gender and age group as we feel more connected to them.

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They can be your competitors or your allies

That's why you can feel empowered by a celebrity's actions. Or, in a more negative case, the celebrity may disappoint you. You may also feel competitive and start comparing yourself to them in an unhealthy way, despite the fact that you know they don't really have anything to do with your life.

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Celebrity gossip also unites gossip

This form of popular culture gives people a common ground for conversation. Some researchers even suggest that following celebrity gossip is a social skill.

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But how do you know if you've gone too far?

Bad gossips leak information to anyone who will listen, or have a clear selfish agenda in which their gossip aims to damage the reputation of their competitors.

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Do it well

Those who gossip know very well many things and prefer to be discreet. A good gossip is to only share something when the safety of others is not at stake.

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What if the gossip gets out of hand?

Gossip can be very dangerous for a person's social life, damaging their relationships and taking time away from things that could make them happier. If it gets out of hand, avoid situations where you know there will be gossip, as well as people who tend to encourage the habit.

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