Gossip

• TYPE OF PSYCHOLOGY: Counseling; Clinical; Social

Gossip is defined as talk or rumor, typically about other people’s personal matters. Gossip can be a key part of forming meaningful relationships. By creating a bond over shared information, people are able to feel closer and ultimately develop closer relationships. However, gossip is not always good. When people are on the receiving end of negative or embarrassing gossip about themselves, they often feel angry and upset.

Introduction

Gossip is ubiquitous. Anthropologists, along with other social scientists, have found that gossip occurs around the world and across cultures. Studies have also shown that gossip helps people understand social networks, such as who is connected to whom and who can be trusted. However, there are differences between the content of gossip. In some cases, gossip can be seen as helping people form and deepen bonds with others. However, when a person is on the receiving end of negative gossip, that person often feels dejected, upset, and hurt about the negative message communicated. Because of technology and online access, gossip can quickly be spread and accessed.

Cyberbullying is one of the many harmful effects of gossip, and because it leads to profound shame and embarrassment, it has even been associated with suicides among youth. Prior to the rise of the internet, negative gossip about young people could be left at school or a similarly restrictive environment. With instant and constant access to social media, people are able to continuously bully by spreading derogatory information about others in a context that does not allow easy rebuttal or explanation. This article will explore the benefits and harmful effects of gossip, gender differences, and the future of gossip.

Defining gossip

Developing a concrete definition for the purpose of research has become challenging. At a very general level, researchers define gossip as idle talk or “chit-chat” about daily life. In an attempt to define gossip more narrowly for the purpose of this article, gossip refers to any instance of information being discussed without the third party (whom the information is about) being present or giving assent.

The positives and negatives of gossip

In the field of communications, there is a term called communication privacy management theory, developed by Sandra Petronio, which centers on how people make decisions about revealing and concealing private information. When a person decides to share information with another, it is usually after they weigh the potential benefits and harm of disclosing to the other person. If a person chooses to tell another some kind of personal, private information, the informed person now shares ownership of the information with the informant. This ownership obligates him or her to act according to the informant’s expectations. When this obligation is not fulfilled, boundary turbulence occurs, and the informant is unlikely to share information with that person again.

Whether positive or negative, gossip is abundant. Research suggests that a large portion of everyday conversations involve gossip, and it is nearly impossible to be a nonparticipant. Gossip can be valuable because people need to know information about those around them. It is impossible for people to be everywhere, all the time, making gossip an important way to give others insight into our lives who might otherwise not get a chance to know much about us. When gossip is used to inform and does not break any preset boundaries, it is beneficial, but when boundary turbulence occurs and a person shares more than they are supposed to, gossip becomes hurtful.

Pros

As mentioned, gossip can be beneficial. As the gossiper, people are able to give information about others that is not their own. Additionally, they are able to disclose something personal without putting anything about themselves on the line. By talking about others, people no longer have the fear of rejection, which allows them to be more open and talk freely about topics they otherwise would not discuss. For example, if someone hears that a colleague is going through a divorce, they might talk to another colleague about the divorce. In this scenario, the coworkers would be able to disclose their opinions as to why the divorce is happening or if they think the couple should or should not be getting a divorce. They can talk about this without having any intention of harming the person getting the divorce. Rather, they are disclosing private information to someone else to form a bond with them. It is natural to want to have deep and meaningful bonds with other people, and people often use gossip as a way of doing this. Gossip can also help groups maintain shared rules by warning others about behavior that is seen as unacceptable. People have less at stake when they talk about others, but they are still able to share something meaningful and gauge how the other person reacts to the information before they disclose anything personal about themselves.

While people are able to form meaningful bonds with others in social settings by gossiping, research also suggests that gossiping at work may influence how people understand workplace dynamics. People are able to know who is and is not getting work done, meeting deadlines, and fulfilling their responsibilities. This information can be insightful to those in higher positions since they are often too removed from the day-to-day work to recognize those who are key to successful operations.

Cons

While gossip can be used to deepen relationships and form meaningful bonds, it can also be hurtful. Gossip is often information not meant to be shared with others, which leads to the person who originally shared the information feeling ashamed, embarrassed, and even angry at the informant. Gossip can also be untrue. In these instances, gossip can become a false rumor that, in the most serious of cases, ends up defaming a person’s character. Additionally, by gossiping, the bonds that people form are not built on disclosed information about the people who are forming the bond. If the people in the relationship do not connect about personal information, the relationship will either remain superficial or will end.

Technology and gossip

While there are numerous benefits to technology, one of the biggest issues surrounding the increase in social media is cyberbullying among youth. Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place through social networking sites, texting, and other types of electronic communication. Often, cyberbullying begins with a rumor started at school, and the rumor then rapidly spreads through the use of technology. Cyberbullying can be incredibly detrimental to a young person and, in some instances, has led to suicide. While many argue that bullying and spreading rumors have always been part of society’s fabric, it has not historically filtered back into the home. In many contexts, bullying goes beyond school and potentially anywhere in the world. Children can be bullied without reprieve, resulting in them not feeling safe anywhere. While many online platforms use reporting systems and automated tools to detect and reduce harmful content, including false rumors and harassment, such tools are not always consistently effective or regulated. In cyberbullying, technology has created a negative space for gossip and has allowed the information to be spread to many people at a rapid pace. According to the US government’s website stopbullying.gov, children and teens who are cyberbullied tend to skip school, experience bullying in real life, have low self-esteem, earn poor grades, and have more health problems. Since this is clearly detrimental to a child’s overall well-being, it highlights the potential negative impact technology can have on gossip.

Bibliography

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Foster, Eric K. “Research on Gossip: Taxonomy, Methods, and Future Directions.” Review of General Psychology, vol. 8, no. 2, 2004, pp. 78–99, doi:10.1037/1089-2680.8.2.78. Accessed 28 Mar. 2026.

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Greene, Robert. The Laws of Human Nature. Penguin Books, 2023.

Pan, Xinyue, et al. “Explaining the Evolution of Gossip.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 121, no. 9, 2024, doi:10.1073/pnas.2214160121. Accessed 28 Mar. 2026.

Petronio, Sandra. Boundaries of Privacy: Dialectics of Disclosure. State U of New York P, 2002.

“What Is Cyberbullying?” StopBullying.gov, 7 Oct. 2024, www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/what-is-it. Accessed 28 Mar. 2026.