Are we really hard-wired to gossip? (Well, now I don’t feel so guilty.)

May I share something with you? Don’t tell anyone, ok?  When it comes to the gossip see-saw, I’ve been on top, crashed to the bottom and had to balance very carefully right in the middle at times. All three on any given day, come to think of it. So it was with great relief and a bit of amusement that I read this Scientific American article, by Frank McAndrew: The Science of Gossip: Why We Can’t Stop Ourselves.

The excuse: 
SciAM: Like it or not, our inability to forsake gossip and information about other individuals is as much a part of who we are as is our inability to resist doughnuts or sex—and for the same reasons.

SC: Not sure I’d label gossip, doughnuts and sex as being “equally resistant.”

Good point from an evolutionary standpoint:
SciAm: Individuals who violated expectations about sharing resources and meeting responsibilities became frequent targets of gossip and ostracism, which applied pressure on them to become better citizens. These social pressures discouraged free riders and cheaters and encouraged altruists. In such societies, the manipulation of public opinion through gossip, ridicule and ostracism became a key way of keeping potentially dominant group members in check.

SC:  Stay in line or sleep with one eye open, got it.

The benefit:
SciAm: People who were fascinated with the lives of others were simply more successful than those who were not, and it is the genes of those individuals that have come down to us through the ages.

SC:  Thanks, Grandma!

The obvious:
SciAm: Although males are usually more interested in news about other males, females are virtually obsessed with news about other females.

SC: Girls gossip about girls–a lot.

The bottom line:
SciAm: Gossip is part of who we are and an essential part of what makes groups function as well as they do. Perhaps it may become more productive to think of gossip as a social skill rather than as a character flaw, because it is only when we do not do it well that we get into trouble.

SciAm: Successful gossiping is about being a good team player and sharing key information with others in a way that will not be perceived as self-serving and about understanding when to keep your mouth shut.

Did we really need science to confirm this last point?

Cheers!