According to a group of Dutch psychologists, gossiping is not bad after all. In fact it can actually prove to be healthy.
Gossiping has always been given a bad rap. A very common belief is that only women gossip, but many studies have proven that men gossip too, be it about a neighbor, friend or colleague. Statistics have shown that nine out of every ten conversations a person has is actually gossip.
For all those people who think gossiping is a waste of time, a group of Dutch psychologists beg to differ. According to them, a recent study shows that gossiping can actually prove to be healthy.
"Gossip is often seen as exclusively self-serving behavior aimed at manipulating others and influencing them in some malicious way" lead author Dr. Bianca Beersma, of Amsterdam University which carried out the research, was quoted as saying by Mail Online."The results of our studies show that gossip may not always be as negative as one might believe at first. Gossip allows people to gather and validate information, to enjoy themselves with others, and to protect their group."
One positive attribute of gossiping is self reflection, it helps people see what others think of them and also motivates under performers to put in more effort into their work.
According to a report published on health website, Counsel Heal, "The study further reveals that the development of 'gossiping' as a habit and part of human nature was by powerful evolutionary forces that worked for over thousands of years."
"A single person cannot ward off a bear or catch a mammoth but a group can," the researcher explained.
During the course of the study, more than 220 students were asked to describe their last gossiping experience and were required to fill up a questionnaire. It was found that gather or distributing "information" was the main motive behind most "gossiping" sessions.
Findings of the study were published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology.
