Science of gossip
Why do we gossip? Apparently, the trait evolved as an important way to bond small groups together. In recent years, evolutionary psychologists have began studying gossip, first to define what it is (and isn't) and then to explore why it evolved. The new issue of Scientific American Mind surveys the latest science of gossip. From SciAm Mind:
Previously on BB:
• Psychology of rumors
Why does private information about other people represent such an irresistible temptation for us? In his book Grooming, Gossip, and the Evolution of Language (Harvard University Press, 1996), psychologist Robin Dunbar of the University of Liverpool in England suggested that gossip is a mechanism for bonding social groups together, analogous to the grooming that is found in primate groups. Sarah R. Wert, now at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and Peter Salovey of Yale University have proposed that gossip is one of the best tools that we have for comparing ourselves socially with others...Science of Gossip, Buy Grooming, Gossip, and the Evolution of Language (Thanks, Marina Gorbis!)
The aspect of gossip that is most troubling is that in its rawest form it is a strategy used by individuals to further their own reputations and selfish interests at the expense of others. This nasty side of gossip usually overshadows the more benign ways in which it functions in society. After all, sharing gossip with another person is a sign of deep trust because you are clearly signaling that you believe that this person will not use this sensitive information in a way that will have negative consequences for you; shared secrets also have a way of bonding people together. An individual who is not included in the office gossip network is obviously an outsider who is not trusted or accepted by the group.
There is ample evidence that when it is controlled, gossip can indeed be a positive force in the life of a group. In a review of the literature published in 2004, Roy F. Baumeister of Florida State University and his colleagues concluded that gossip can be a way of learning the unwritten rules of social groups and cultures by resolving ambiguity about group norms. Gossip is also an efficient way of reminding group members about the importance of the group’s norms and values; it can be a deterrent to deviance and a tool for punishing those who transgress.
Previously on BB:
• Psychology of rumors
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"The aspect of gossip that is most troubling is that in its rawest form it is a strategy used by individuals to further their own reputations and selfish interests at the expense of others."
I don't think we need to include the "at the expense of others" to make it what it is. I wouldn't call it "rawest" either, in that it can be very refined, very sophisticated, very spun.
That's not what I heard. Jamie said that we gossip because otherwise it would get back to people that we were, like, too good to socialize and exchange information. You know the people I'm talking about. Certain people who think they're all such awesome sociologists and behavior theorists but who can't even figure out how to keep their boyfriends from cheating on them with a certain administrative assistant. Who by the way, I heard from my friend who goes to the gym with her that she had her boobs done, and you can totally see the scars.
Pssst! I heard that Barack Obama is an elitist Muslim terrorist! Pass it on!
"After all, sharing gossip with another person is a sign of deep trust because you are clearly signaling that you believe that this person will not use this sensitive information in a way that will have negative consequences for you;"
-not true. gossip is exchanged between people who don't care about each other frequently. trust, i don't think, is considered when spreading the dirt on someone
Gossip "evolved"?!! Pfft! We all know it was created by God, so people had something to do on the sabbath when they were barred from working!
There is a SciAm Mind?!?!?!? Why did i not know about this even after a couple years of subscribing to SciAm. I must get me a subscription.
Gossip is essential to group self-regulation beyond just establishment of norms; it is also the mechanism groups use to report on whether individuals are conforming to those norms. It's a distributed Better Business Bureau for reputations.
Of course it can be abused, but if the group is small or closed, that will catch up with the offender.
Plus, uh, what Ill Lich said.
Great to hear an honest discussion of the positive aspects of gossip. Even aside from the group bonding, egalitarian, and regulation functions (econ/ev bio), keep in mind how FUN gossip is. Talking about other people and trying to figure out how their minds work is one of the most entertaining and valuable of human pursuits, in my opinion.
Also, I'll say it again: gossip is on Brown's list of human universals.
Hehehe!
Trying to imagine the 'ancestry' of gossip:
Boomba: "Hey Goom, did'ya hear? Apparently Zoola was in the Shaman's hut yesterday, and they sure gave the Great Spirit an eyeful!
Goom: "No ways! I've been hearing the Shaman is quite the loin-cloth chaser. Zoola, eh? Lucky son of a sabertooth..."
:D
We subscribed to SciAmMind for a while. It is very nicely laid out with little boxes of key ideas everywhere. It would be a good teaching tool for the classroom. There was an article a couple months ago about the sense of boredom and uselessness we feel in the midst of so much automation and convenience appliances and so on. Anyway, I wrote a letter to the editor about using clothesline in place of the dryer. I don't think they published it. (Oh well, I can post on Boingboing. Who needs a letter to the editor anyway?)
About the gossip thing, I just want to say its what bitches do in their little cliques. I have no doubt it springs from a very primitive part of the brain. Yet another reason to homeschool. Haha. I don't know, maybe kids have to learn how to navigate these gossip circles on their own. It just brings up such dreadful memories for me.(heebeejeebies)
Gossip is a product of dysfunctional social systems where normal forms of communication are suppressed by an authoritarian seeking to control the group through the control of information. If there is any small group bonding associated with gossip it is in the conspiracy of the oppressed to engage in forbidden exchanges of information.
Gossip can be used to update the map of social landmines. Who wants to bounce up to a person and ask, "How's your significant other?" and get the response "Rotting in Hell, I hope."?
One of my professors in grad school talked about the sorting function of gossip. He gave as an example when he had just finished his graduate work and moved to a tiny town to work as a minister, and was the first person to live there with a post-grad degree. His wife was working on her dissertation, which was just downright bizarre. The town was pretty taken aback at first, but the sorting function of gossip established that their kids were well cared for (despite mom spending so much time reading and typing), mom could make a mean jello salad for potlucks, their marriage was functional despite non-traditional gender roles, etc. So having discovered that they fit the important values of the community (loved their kids, didn't kick their dog, etc.), the community decided all their quirks were interesting and admirable rather than threatening and scary.
I watched the same thing when I moved to my smaller town a few years ago. We were the first married couple in my (relatively blue-collar) neighborhood with different last names, and the first "greenies." Not too many people in our neighborhood have college degrees, and only a couple have grad degrees, so they were worried we'd be snobs. As the neighbors discovered we keep up our house, don't run around naked, like beer, and snag passing toddlers attempting to escape into traffic, they decided our different last names were a font of teasing rather than ridicule, our organic gardening methods were interesting (several neighbors have gone partly organic now!), and our advice on college admissions useful to their kids. They still think we're weird, but they think it affectionately, not with hostility.