Editorial: Why People Gossip and What It Brings About: Motives for, and Consequences of, Informal Evaluative Information Exchange

Frontiers in Psychology

article

Myriam N. Bechtoldt¹  Bianca Beersma²  Maria T. M. Dijkstra² 

[1] Department of Management and Economics, EBS University of Business and Law;Department of Organization Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

关键词: gossip;    motives;    groups;    cooperation;    prosocial behavior;    antisocial behavior;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00024

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

You do it, we do it, everyone does it: talk about others in their absence. Estimates suggest that intwo thirds of their conversations people are talking about others who are not present (e.g., Levinand Arluke, 1985; Dunbar et al., 1997). But people do not talk openly about the fact that they liketo gossip. Rather, they claim that they do it less frequently than others (Hartung and Renner, 2013),and they do not like those who are known for it (Farley, 2011; Ellwardt et al., 2012). The negativeview of gossip among laypeople contrasts with scientific insights suggesting that gossipers’motivation is fueled more strongly by epistemic motives (i.e., a desire to understand the socialenvironment), or pro-social motives (i.e., a desire to help others), than malicious motives(e.g., Beersma and Van Kleef, 2012). So gossip is a phenomenon similar to the elephant in the room:Everyone knows it is there, but no one talks about it.

【 授权许可】

CC BY