Can’t Stand Gossip? Let’s Talk, New Research Suggests

Gabbing About Others Offers Unexpected Benefits in Social Groups, UMD and Stanford Researchers Find

Rumormongers, blabbermouths, busybodies—no matter what you call them, gossipers get a bad rap. But new theoretical research conducted by University of Maryland and Stanford University researchers argues that gossipers—defined as those who exchange personal information about absent third parties—aren’t all that bad. In fact, they might even boost levels of cooperation within social circles.

The study, published Tuesday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, used a computer simulation of social interaction to show that gossip is good at disseminating actionable information about people’s reputations.

“When people are interested in knowing if someone is a good person to interact with, if they can get information from gossiping—assuming the information is honest—that can be a very useful thing to have,” said study co-author Dana Nau, a retired professor in UMD’s Department of Computer Science and Institute for Systems Research.

The researchers used the computer simulation to explore a long-standing mystery in social psychology: How did gossiping evolve into a pastime that transcends gender, age, culture and socioeconomic background?

“One previous study shows that, on average, a person spends an hour per day talking about others, so this takes a lot of time out of our daily life,” said first author Xinyue Pan M.S. ’21, Ph.D. ’23, who published part of this research in her psychology master’s thesis. “That’s why it's important to study it.”

Earlier theories suggested that gossip can bond large groups of people and foster cooperation, but did not explain what individual gossipers would gain from these interactions, or why recipients were so willing to lend an ear.

“This has been a real puzzle,” said study co-author Michele Gelfand, a professor at Stanford Business School and a professor emeritus in UMD’s Department of Psychology. “It’s unclear why gossiping, which requires considerable time and energy, evolved as an adaptive strategy at all.”

Animation by Valerie Morgan

Published on Thu, Feb 22, 2024 - 9:15AM