In April 2021, a study from Dartmouth College concluded that gossip is misunderstood.
While gossiping has a negative connotation in our modern world, the evolution of the word reveals a more complex history.
There could even be social and mental health benefits to a “corridor chat” or disappearing into a Zoom breakout room.
Keep reading to find out why a daily gossip might be just what the doctor ordered.
Gossiping has been thought of as a negative since the time of the witch trials
Since the species learned to communicate verbally, gossiping has existed in one form or another. It could even have emerged from social grooming among primates, making gossip a part of our species’ evolution.
Even the word itself has evolved.
From “a person related to one in God” – commonly meaning a godparent or “baptismal sponsor” – it came to mean the person one gossips with.
In fact, it was only during the 16th-century witch hunts that the negative connotation first arrived. It was here too that the misconception that only women gossiped first emerged.
While the idle chatter of accused women was “gossip”, the “witty chat and intellectual debates” occurring in the newly arrived coffee houses of London and its surrounding university towns were an entirely different beast.
‘Newspapers, gossip and coffee-house culture’, an article by Dr Matthew White and held by the British Library, confirms that the rise of gossip in these establishments occurred alongside the ongoing witch trials.
Frequented by “the educated and well-to-do”, Samuel Pepys was among the learned men to sing the praises of the coffee house as a useful place “to pick up gossip, listen to debates or simply make useful trade connections”.
3 surprising benefits of gossip
Dartmouth College confirmed that gossip isn’t simply about passing on rumours or saying bad things about others. It is a complex experience with many purposes, some of which might even be beneficial to you.
1. Gossiping helps you build bonds and make friends
Since primates began social grooming, animals have looked to form bonds. Conversation and gossip can release hormones like serotine and oxytocin.
The act of talking to someone else can help build trust. Or it can suggest those that aren’t to be trusted and should be avoided. This was a great survival mechanism as the species evolved.
Even the negatives of gossip can have an upside. Knowing that someone has spoken about you behind your back can be hurtful but talking about it can help to build empathy. This is also true if you are the one spreading the rumours.
Sharing your gossip can help to get things off your chest but be careful.
Too much gossiping, especially within the same circles, can lead to a group mentality that cuts others out.
Once you remove dissenting voices, it’s easy for the group that remains to feel a kind of confirmation bias as each new conversation reasserts the feelings of the group.
2. Sharing a problem through gossip can help you solve it
If you have a problem at work or home, discussing it with a friend or colleague can help you find a solution.
At work, this might be a water cooler chat or pulling a colleague aside for an informal meeting. In truth, both of these could be seen as “gossip” in its widest sense. But, if your fellow gossip can offer support and useful guidance, it could help you to solve your problem.
Communication is a vital part of all relationships, and while it’s important not to leave individual parties feeling alienated, some well-meaning gossip could be just what the situation calls for.
As the Dartmouth study found, gossip can be “a means of social connection beyond its typical negative connotation”.
In fact, some studies suggest that as much as 14% of your daily conversation could be construed as gossip, with the vast majority being positive or neutral.
3. Gossiping can reduce stress and relieve anxiety
Bottling things up isn’t good for you. If you are stressed, worried, or annoyed about a situation, letting those feelings out through gossip – whether with a friend, neighbour, or colleague – could help you depressurise.
Take time out in your day to socialise and you could find your problems feel less insurmountable.
Maybe someone you know has been in the same position? Could seeing a different side to a problem change your own perspective?
Remember the potential pitfalls of gossip. Try to use social interaction to build bonds and increase your empathy, rather than adding to your anger or worry. At its best, gossip can help you let off steam and restore your objectivity.
By its widest definition, most of the conversations you have will fall into the category of gossip so embrace it. Gossiping doesn’t always have to be a bad thing!