PUBLICATION NAME: Science Daily
DATE OF PUBLICATION: September 8, 2010
SUMMARY:
Dr. Jennifer Cole and Hannah Scrivener from Staffordshire University have found that gossiping is actually good for the gossiper’s health. However, don’t get carried away with your celebrations just yet: this is only true when a person shares positive gossip about someone else. In a study performed to determine the effects of gossiping on the gossiper, 160 participants were asked to fill out questionnaires about their tendency to gossip as well as about their sense of self-esteem, social support and overall satisfaction with their lives. It was found that gossiping was closely tied to higher feelings of social support among the participants. In another study that was meant as a follow-up to the first, 140 people were asked to talk about a made-up person either positively or negatively. The people who talked about the fictional character positively were found to have experienced feelings of greater self-esteem than those people who had gossiped negatively.
So what does all this mean to us? It means that all of our negative preconceptions about gossiping may have to be rethought because gossiping isn’t as bad as it seems. In other words, gossiping (but only that of the positive, praising kind) is actually good for us mentally because it makes us feel more supported by the community and thus gives us higher self-esteem. And really, who couldn’t use more self-esteem or who doesn’t enjoy the feeling of being supported by your community?
These preliminary findings will be presented at the British Psychological Society Social Psychology Section annual conference at the University of Winchester by Dr. Cole and Dr. Scrivener.
LINKS TO STUDY: None Available
SUBMITTED BY: Lordesa Fok
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