Your best friend hates you. Your boyfriend doesn’t want you. And, the girl who sits behind you in Biology is actually a furry. Awful, but entertaining, right? Whether it appears in the form of negative ‘behind-the-back’ comments about someone else or an innocent conversation between friends, gossip seems to be constantly circulating throughout our society. Most people carry a pessimistic perspective on what it means to gossip, believing that it is hurtful towards others and is not beneficial to the world. However, these stigmatizations revolving gossip are mainly misconceptions; instead it has played a significant role in human evolution and in the strengthening of friendships within our modern civilization.
Thousands of years ago, when nomads wandered the earth andlived in caves while hunting animals for food, they found unique ways to form strong social bonds with each other. By living in packs and “picking dirt off one another” (Time), our ancestors were able to form intimate environments within their relatively small civilizations. In addition, humans at the time would talk to each other about their hunts and their plans to escape natural predators living in the wild. While our version of gossip might not share the same purpose of survival, evolutionary psychologists argue that this method of interaction parallels the role of gossip in twenty-first century society, serving as a key factor in promoting the development of friendships. For example, gossiping allows social networks to form, where people can spread valuable knowledge across a wide group of people. This can be seen through conversations between friends and in social media platforms that most people rely on to receive and transmit information.
Furthermore, gossip can also be viewed as a type of “cultural learning”. Take this as an example - a friend group negatively discusses a member who has neglected the rest of the group, instead choosing to prioritize their romantic relationship. In this situation, the psychology of gossip plays a pivotal role. By talking about this, the friend group first develops a sense of trust with each other. As they all have a shared aversion to that member’s actions, they are brought closer under the idea that they would never do such a thing to each other. Moreover, this type of conversation sets ground rules within the group. They establish what is socially acceptable and what they will not tolerate. They also set a list of “favorable priorities”, meaning they believe that friends should matter more than a romantic partner. The conversation serves as a reminder to all friends in the group of the consequences of that specific action. Additionally, everyone in the group feels included as they believe they are on the same page. To an outsider, this may seem like a ‘toxic situation’, but in essence, it is very significant to the maintenance of friendships.
The effects of gossip can also be seen by looking at different brain regions. In a study published in Social Neuroscience (2015), brain imaging was reviewed in subjects as they heard or participated in conversations about others. An increase in neuronal activity was seen in the prefrontal cortex, a location characterized by its role in cognitive and social behaviors. This hyperactivity reflects a need for social acceptance. Hence, these conversations make people want to be seen in a positive light by others to avoid judgment or feeling a sense of estrangement. Furthermore, the caudate nucleus (a brain center for reward and motivation) was activated throughout these discussions, indicating the positive feeling possessed as a result of joy from the entertaining stories and distractions from negative emotion or frustration.
Overall, this raises the question: is gossiping beneficial to society? There are many ways to consider this question. In terms of harmful gossip, this is never good to a society as it can have negative consequences and destroy relationships. However, when not under those circumstances, it should be understood that gossip is an important part of maintaining a social network within a civilization and has been a part of society since the beginning of time.