Are Gossips Just Unproductive Conversations Or Play A Role In Our Social Setting?

Water cooler talk, small talk, hearsay, chit chat – there are many polite and impolite ways to refer to gossip. Whether you enjoy it or hate it, it can be hard to stay out of these discussions entirely. From schools to offices, almost everyone engages in gossip at least occasionally. Gossip is often seen as morally bad. After all, gossip always means sharing information that is neither verified nor public.

But gossip isn’t always a bad thing, according to NBC News. In fact, the act of sharing information may be a reminder of our distant past when sharing and communicating information was necessary for survival.

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“It’s just social information and we learn a lot about the social world around us when we gossip,” explained Megan Robbins, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside. Told the B.C.

A 2019 study published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science found that almost everyone gossips, and most gossip is neither positive nor negative. The study involved 467 participants (all adults) and recorded them with electronic recorders for a period of 2-5 days. The scientists collected random samples of their everyday conversations and analyzed all the gossip, which they classified as conversations about someone who didn’t exist. The researchers also categorized gossip according to a standardized scale into three categories – ‘positive’, ‘negative’ or ‘neutral’.

The study found that 434 out of 467 participants gossiped at least once. They also found that most conversations, about 75 percent, were classified as neutral. Only 25 percent of conversations were rated as negative or positive, and the amount of neutral gossip was similar among women and men. People who gossiped more were extroverts and introverts preferred to stay away from such conversations.

Scientists also suggest that gossip helps maintain social order. Additional research has shown that many gossips are morally stimulating and have a positive effect on people. Social and behavioral scientists suggest that gossip is one of the forces that promote cooperation between different groups and that it helps people avoid people who cannot be trusted.

So what do you think? Is gossiping a good thing or just a waste of time?

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