Spread the word: Gossiping might be good for us.
Social researchers estimate two-thirds of all conversation is devoted to gossip. Recent studies from the anthropology department at the University of Wisconsin and the State University of New York at Binghamton suggest gossip is not simply a trivial pasttime but is actually essential to our social, psychological and physical well-being.
Gossip, defined as chatter about someone who is not present, can relieve stress and foster social bonds. It also teaches us how to behave, determines our standing in the community and keeps us connected.
“It definitely unites you and other people’s common viewpoints,” said SMU sophomore Katie Clifford.
Gossip is also the glue that binds social groups together, serving as a valuable tool to help us navigate our social worlds, according to researchers.
Everyone must learn the unwritten rules of society or social groups, and gossip helps people discover, negotiate, transmit and reinforce these rules. Listen to what people in your social circle are gossiping about, and you will be able to find out where the boundaries are and how to avoid overstepping them.
“If you hear about someone doing something you occasionally do and the other people in the group respond negatively, you may be less likely to do that behavior yourself in the future,” says SMU psychology professor Dr. Chris Logan.
According to researchers, gossiping has a therapeutic value, giving a natural endorphin rush and an avenue to vent frustration.
SMU sophomore Ellen Johnston says she spends at least four hours a day gossiping.
“It’s good to vent about someone in order to avoid major confrontations,” she says.
Experiments have also shown that the raising of social status is associated with increased serotonin in the brain, which has equally beneficial physical and psychological effects. Gossiping can temporarily raise a person’s social status, which stimulates the release of serotonin, one of the brain’s happy hormones.
Downward social comparison can also be used to boost our self esteem, according to Logan.
“If we are not feeling great about ourselves one day and we hear about someone else who is worse off than we are, we can feel a little better about ourselves,” he says.
“Gossip is what no one claims to like, but everybody enjoys,” novelist Joseph Conrad once wrote.
Although most of us enjoy and engage in it, gossip often carries a negative connotation. However, social scientists who have researched the subject insist that gossip is more closely related to its 17th century meaning.
The idea of gossip originated with the Old English word “godsibb,” meaning, “a person related to one in God,” or a godparent. Until the 1800s the word gossip detonated friendship.
Today the dictionary defines gossip as “chatty talk; the reporting of sensational or intimate information.” Most researchers now agree gossip is any conversation between two or more people about another person who is not present.
Researchers say gossip provides indirect evaluations of other people’s behavior. Gossip generally involves more than the sharing of information about people’s lives and relationships. It also usually includes the expression of opinions or feelings about this information. The opinions or feelings may be implied or conveyed simply in the tone of voice, but gossip usually includes an indication of the person’s views on the subject.
Negative gossip also promotes social bonding between the gossipers. Sharing your negative opinions of people behind their backs is a strong way of building relationships with others, according to a study led by a former University of Oklahoma psychology professor. By criticizing someone else, we are affirming the values and opinions we share with each other.
Johnston disagrees.
“Criticism of the situation is one thing, but to put someone down intentionally, to be clearly malicious, that’s not constructive at all,” Johnston says.
Researchers studying gossip believe it’s important to differentiate gossip from rumor. Gossip is talk about other people and is usually assumed to be based on facts. Rumor, however, can either be about events or people and is much more speculative.
“Gossip that has the intent of causing harm to another person can have serious consequences for the target of that gossip,” Logan says.
However, Clifford says gossiping is an inevitable part of everyday life.
“It’s going to happen no matter what,” Clifford says.
As Alice Roosevelt Longworth once quipped, “If you haven’t got anything nice to say about anybody, come sit next to me.”
