Is gossip all bad? Maybe there is a real purpose behind the bickering about others, despite the nastiness sometimes involved. This is apparently the case according to some new research from the University of Ottawa.
Adam Davis is the lead author behind a study published in Evolutionary Psychological Science. He has linked gossip with intrasexual competitiveness. Davis concludes that gossiping is a highly evolved social skill and competitive tactic related to men's and women's preferences for each other.
It seems women are likely to gossip about other women rivals -- to badmouth and engage in rumor-mongering -- in order to compete for a man's attention. This tends to take the form of gossiping about other women's appearance. Men also engage in gossip, but talk about things related to their level of wealth and their physical performance that they think puts them above other men in competing for women.
Other scholars agree that gossip is a way for people to learn more about others, as well as enforce group norms. This allows people to learn about their rivals they are competing with and question the reputations others have about them. If you can point out how another rival doesn't conform to the social expectations, then it can knock their social standing down and make them appear less romantically or sexually desirable.
Davis has demonstrated the evolutionary advantage of gossiping in a study involving 209 heterosexual students between 17 and 30 years old. Questions determined how people felt about members of their own sex, how it related to attract the attention of potential mates, the likelihood to gossip about others, the social value of such gossip, and if it's OK to talk about others behind their backs.
Those who had a sense of being more competitive with their own sex had greater tendencies to gossip and were more comfortable doing so. As might be expected, women have a greater tendency to gossip than men, enjoyed it more, and saw greater value in engaging in such banter to improve their ability to find a mate. Honing the skill of gossip is important more many women.
Despite how much women may prefer to gossip than men, it's not simply a gender stereotype or negative characterization of female behavior as it serves a purpose in mate competition. In that way, negative gossip is a positive in terms of evolutionary survival. Davis concludes that rather than seeing gossip as a character flaw, it should be looked upon as an evolved social skill that is "essential for interpersonal relationships".
I don't view negative superficial gossip to out-compete a rival mate as "positive" really (apart from a simplistic evolutionary survival tactic). But one form of gossip that I definitely view as a positive, is the necessity to talk about the immoral behavior of others and ourselves in order for change for the better to come about.
What do you think about gossip?
Do you see it as a positive, negative, or both depending on how it's used?
Do you like to gossip?
Let me know what you think ;)
Thank you for your time and attention. Peace.