The Happy Talent
  • Blog
  • About
  • Popular
  • Education
  • Social Science
  • Travel
  • Products
  • Contact
"It is a happy talent to know how to play."

Gossip Isn't Petty. It's a Powerful Evolutionary Tool.

11/13/2016

7 Comments

 
Picture
I see this meme on Facebook sometimes. Part of me loves it, because I love talking about ideas. Even if I have no intention of actually designing my own board game or launching an American Mail Order Brides website to help women escape a trump presidency... it's still fun to talk about execution and logistics. 

Still, part of me hates this meme. As a psychologist, I understand that gossip is a powerful evolutionary tool that basically enabled our entire existence. 

Why?

Because human society depends on cooperation. It requires that people follow certain rules, whether about how much each person works, who each person mates with, or how much food each person consumes. If someone's hoarding the food supply -- that's a problem that endangers the entire group. It must be noticed. It must be discussed.

If someone's hanging out in the mango grove while all the other men are out hunting, putting their own lives at risk... that's a big problem. It must be discovered. This person -- whose laziness/cowardice decreases the food supply and puts other men at an increased risk -- must be shamed and ostracized. 

Because of this, psychologist Jonathan Haidt argues in 
The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion, almost every human society, past and present, considers it worse to be a traitor than an enemy. This is reflected in stories, folklore, and even modern treason laws. We innately hate traitors more than enemies.
Picture
Moreover,  gossip is an intimate act that strengthens social bonds -- in a way that Oxford professor Robin Dunbar has compared to grooming in primates. 

Although it only takes a few minutes to groom one another for hygienic purposes, great apes often groom for hours, which demonstrates a deeper meaning behind this simple, pro-social act. Likewise, Dunbar proposes, gossip is a way of maintaining social bonds that is more scalable than grooming. Words don't require individual physical contact, so you can share them with larger groups and tribes. Through gossip, you can "groom" several people simultaneously -- and the ability to maintain larger groups presents a huge evolutionary advantage in a world full of competitors, predators, and other challenges.

Another argument scientists have made about gossip is that it is simply people talking about each other. Social bonding and rule-enforcement aside, cooperative societies must talk about each other in order to survive. How do you hunt without coordinating your efforts? How do you know where to gather without hearing where others have had the most (or least) success?

It's pretty clear that gossip was a crucial tool for our ancestors. But neuroscientists have found that it still has a powerful effect on our brains today. For example, hearing gossip about people can literally change the way you see them.

According to The Visual Impact of Gossip, published in Science in 2011, negative gossip actually alters the way our visual system responds to a particular face.

In the study, Lisa Feldman and her team brought in volunteers and had them look at faces paired with gossip. Some of these faces were associated with negative gossip, such as "threw a chair at his classmate." Other faces were associated with more positive actions, such as "helped an elderly woman with her groceries."
Picture
Then the researchers examined how brains responded to the different kinds of information. They showed the left and right eyes of each participant two different images. Perhaps one eye would see a face, while the other saw a house.

This causes something called binocular rivalry -- because our brains can only see one of the images at a time, we unconsciously linger on the one we consider more important.

The researchers found that volunteers' brains were most likely to fix on faces associated with negative gossip, which suggests that we are hardwired to pay more attention to a person we've been told is dangerous, dishonest or unpleasant.

Which makes sense, from an evolutionary perspective. Negative emotions are way more important than positive emotions. Without loneliness, people wouldn't work so hard to maintain social bonds. Without jealousy, we would be more likely to be cuckholds and fail to pass on our genetic information. Without discontent, we wouldn't strive to get more when we already have enough -- meaning we're better equipped to withstand droughts, famines and other disruptions to resources. 

And. Not knowing who is dangerous or treacherous means we're more likely to be robbed, murdered, raped, or ripped off.

Gossip is a powerful way to keep your friends, family and allies safe. 

Because we are so much more likely to focus on negative gossip than positive or neutral gossip, and because cooperation is the cornerstone of human civilization, everyone (except psychopaths) is obsessed with what others think of them. As I wrote in a recent post,

Psychologist Mark Leary realized that, from an evolutionary perspective, self-esteem made much less sense than ratings of ourselves by others. To which everyone always responded:

“Oh, well I don’t care what others think!”

So he set up an experiment. He recruited participants to fill out a questionnaire that measured how much people thought they were affected others' ratings of them. Then, he selected the people who reported being highly unaffected, as well as those who reported being highly sensitive, and invited them into his lab for the next part of the study.

Participants were asked to sit alone in a room and talk about themselves for five minutes. Each minute, a “listener in another room” would give a 1–7 rating of how much he/she would like to meet the participant, as well as other feedback.

Not surprisingly, people who reported a high sensitivity to others’ opinions had a huge drop. But. The so-called mavericks had drops almost as big.

Leary also found that, while negative feedback significantly lowered participants’ self-esteem, positive feedback didn’t produce an increase in self-esteem.

Leary concluded that the “sociometer” operates at an unconscious level, and is highly sensitive to cues that your relational value is low or declining. Read more >


This was a great experiment -- but how do we get ratings in real life? How do we rate others in real life?

Through gossip.

So, sure, it’s sometimes fun to talk about what someone ate or who’s sleeping with whom… But it’s also a powerful tool to regulate people’s behavior and ensure cooperation.

​So next time you hear someone say, “Oh, I don’t gossip!” or, “Gossip is for lowlifes,” replace the word “gossip” with “appendix” and have a little chuckle.
7 Comments
Zane
11/14/2016 10:43:40 am

Hi Eva. I sometimes disagree with your posts and don't say anything. This is one that I find particularly poorly thought out. Just because we evolved to do something does not mean that it is a good thing. Some instincts need to be suppressed. We also evolved to commit violence, commit rape, be racist, to overeat, and to gossip, among other actions that are understandably forbidden or looked down upon in civilized society. While discussing the actions of others is sometimes beneficial to the conversations participants, some of it is quite pretty. I think that petty gossip reflects poorly on the character of the participants.

Reply
Eva Glasrud link
11/15/2016 05:16:30 pm

We don't need an appendix, either, but we have one. Maybe it doesn't serve the same purpose it used to, but without understanding what it is, it could literally kill us.

What part of my argument did you think was poorly thought out? I don't recall saying gossip was "good" or served a particular modern purpose. Only that everyone does it (contrary to the stereotype that women gossip more than men, men do it just as much... though, sometimes, differently). Everyone enjoys it. It literally shapes our brains and how we see people. But it, like an appendix, has the potential to become toxic.

One part of *your* argument I thought was poorly thought-out was the suggestion that we evolved to rape and be violent. People are evolving to be LESS violent -- which makes sense, considering the whole, you're-most-likely-to-survive-if-you-are-cooperative thing that gave humans a huge evolutionary advantage.

The whole point of gossip is to force people to behave in an acceptable manner. Which is why, correspondingly, people have evolved to be less violent over time.

Reply
Zane
11/16/2016 05:34:58 am

Good morning. I think this is partially an issue of semantics. The word "gossip" has connotations of pettiness. It is certainly not ideal to say that "gossip isn't petty," when some of it is.
Unfortunately, we are evolved to rape. There are many books on this subject.
Also, it is now widely believed that the appendix serves various functions.

Playful Patty
5/1/2017 02:20:59 pm

Yes, I agree with Zane below. Gossip is connotative of passing along unconfirmed information about individuals. It even gives the sense of backstabbing where the individual isn't spoken to first about the complaints. I can see that, in terms of evolution, it is important to address concerns with an individual themselves, for them to associate the specific bad behavior with the chastisement, and publicly to bring out possible patterns of misbehavior across time and space (public opinion if you will). But "gossip" doesn't seem to address these things in the way most think of the word.

Valerie link
11/16/2016 01:35:48 pm

Some people don't like gossip because they don't want to be held accountable for their actions. Like one time, someone borrowed my car, killed the battery, lied to me about it, didn't get it jumped and never apologized. Then this person got mad at me for telling people what he did! Yes, gossip serves a social function. Some people aren't trustworthy and others need to know.

Reply
Angela Waterford link
9/27/2019 10:47:31 am

I never considered that gossip can actually be beneficial if will help me change the way I see people. I've always been interested in celebrities, so hearing gossip and news about them might help me change the way I interact with people who have similar personalities with them. In my opinion, I think that there's nothing bad about hearing things about celebrities, so I might look for sources where I can update myself about them.

Reply
Mavis Wanczyk
5/24/2025 07:02:14 am

Being the winner of a multi-million-dollar lottery certainly is a life-changing event for almost every single lottery winner. My name is Mavis Wanczyk from Chicopee, Massachusetts, the famous Powerball lottery winner of $758 million (£591m). I know many people would wonder how I had won the lottery. Would you believe me if I told you that I did it with spell casting? I met this famous spell caster known as Great Odunga and he was the one who did it for me. As shocking as it was to me, my famous comment to the press was “ I’m going to go and hide in my bed.” Never did I believe that Great Odunga made me wealthy overnight. If you want to have your chance of winning and becoming very wealthy just like me, contact Great Odunga at [email protected] OR Email: [email protected] and WHATS-APP HIM at +2348167159012 and you will be lucky. Thanks for reading and hope to see you at the top

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    About the Author
    Picture
    Eva is a content specialist with a passion for play, travel... and a little bit of girl power.  Read more >


    Want to support The Happy Talent? CLICK HERE!
    Support the Happy Talent
    Or Find me on Patreon!
    Picture

    What's Popular on The Happy Talent:
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

      Want more?

    Submit

    Trending in Dating and Relationships:
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture



    ​What's Popular in Science:
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture


    Playfulness and Leisure Skills:
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Popular in Psychology and Social Skills:
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Categories

    All
    20s
    Adolescence
    Backpacking
    Boredom
    Boredom Avoidance
    Camping
    Career Advice
    Careers
    Communication
    Confidence
    Consent
    Creativity
    Curiosity
    Dating
    Economy
    Education
    Entrepreneurship
    Fearlessness
    Female Travel
    Feminism
    Free Speech
    Gap Year
    Great Products
    Growth Mindset
    Health
    Hiking
    Hitchhiking
    Life Advice
    Meeting New People
    Mental Health
    Mexico
    Mindfulness
    Most Popular
    National Parks
    Outdoors
    Parenting
    Parenting Advice
    Passive Entertainment
    Play
    Playfulness
    Psychology
    Relationships
    Resilience
    Science
    Scuba Diving
    Self Help
    Self-help
    Sex
    Sports
    Stanford University
    Startups
    Study Abroad
    Summer
    Technology
    Teenagers
    Therapy
    Travel
    Yosemite

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
Photos from paweesit, Steven Penton, torbakhopper, Theo Crazzolara, edenpictures, Kiwi Tom, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Homedust, wocintechchat.com, Ralphman, wbaiv, kg.abhi, Jamiecat *, UnitedWarVeterans, D()MENICK, True Portraits, Neville Wootton Photography, Salvation Army USA West, South African Tourism, phalinn, WilliamsProjects, j_bary, Japanexperterna.se, thephotographymuse, Elvert Barnes, ThoroughlyReviewed, hairy:jacques, joncutrer, wuestenigel, Franck_Michel, jimwerner25, Imahinasyon Photography, joanne clifford, m01229, Antonio Campoy Ederra, Our Dream Photography (Personal), shixart1985, davidstewartgets, couples in nature, Dage - Looking For Europe, jonseidman, andymw91, garryknight, wuestenigel, Rosmarie Voegtli, werner.philipps, Gage Skidmore, Novafly, dinuxm1, Eddie Yip, Prayitno / Thank you for (10 millions +) views, DMahendra, James_Seattle, jamkablam, vanitystudiosphotography, verchmarco (CC BY 2.0), Luiz Gustavo Leme, oki_jappo, Daquella manera, CasparGirl, Mary Anne Morgan, inkknife_2000 (10.5 million + views), homethods, wocintechchat, Hypnotica Studios Infinite, dailyrectangle, Tobyotter, torbakhopper, Kevin Johnston, David Robb, eisenberg_emily, True Portraits, Douglas Pimentel, pmarkham, Noize Photography, rawdonfox, dollen, davidstewartgets, ed and eddie, Ryosuke Yagi, Anthony_Greene, Ruth and Dave, best couples, Jenn Durfey, Cost3l, Orin Zebest, anjanettew, dollen, Editor B, Alexander Day, LyndaSanchez, polosopuestosblog, UpSticksNGo, Agência Brasil, homethods, Find Rehab Centers, Novafly, Deornelas4, buzzern, seefit, C. VanHook (vanhookc), University of Delaware Alumni Relations, Franck_Michel, gordontarpley, Chris Photography(王權), usadifranci, virgohobbs, TheUglySweaterShop, popofatticus, wuestenigel (CC BY 2.0), Mitya Ku, Stefano Montagner - The life around me, Official U.S. Navy Imagery, xxxology, Valentina (GaiaPhotography), True Portraits, Lars Plougmann, Scioto Photos, Carlos ZGZ, quinn.anya, anokarina, amtecstaffing, mliu92, sfbaywalk, MakaiylaW, jerseytom55, Ray in Manila, BoldContent, stevenbates, Janitors, True Portraits, dwhartwig, Kuruman, sffoghorn, liveoncelivewild, mripp, Magdalena Roeseler, Tambako the Jaguar, Barbro Andersen, cbcmemberphotos2477, dejankrsmanovic, weeklydig, Free For Commercial Use (FFC), Sharon C Johnson, Phuketian.S, WeTravel.com, Gunn Shots (On and off these days), valentin hintikka, homethods, JasonParis, kennethkonica, Gregg Vandenberghe, Alyssa L. Miller, theblacknemesis, jdlasica, verchmarco, lizbennington, Artem Beliaikin, best couples, Tony Webster, Infomastern, www.audio-luci-store.it, Our Dream Photography (Personal), LandBetweentheLakesKYTN, KRWonders, donnierayjones, tristendomusic, [email protected], ::ErWin, cnu_sports, gagilas, euthman, ierdnall, jeffreyw, liveoncelivewild, melan.cholerikerin, Artur Malinowski, blachswan, szwerink, wuestenigel, Foodista, toptenalternatives, Cubmundo, Kirt Edblom, Glenn Loos-Austin, wuestenigel, eleonoralbasi, wuestenigel, LyndaSanchez, gagilas, torbakhopper, Gage Skidmore, irio.jyske, LyndaSanchez, Theo Crazzolara, garryknight, kennethkonica, rentalrealities
  • Blog
  • About
  • Popular
  • Education
  • Social Science
  • Travel
  • Products
  • Contact