Verbally ripping people to shreds in their absence has been a widespread human pastime for hundreds of years. While some people may feel guilty for
taking part in gossip, some social
scientists claim it’s part of the species’ evolutionary heritage.
“‘Juicy’ or ‘hot’ gossip, which tends to travel fast, is almost always about bad behavior, not good behavior,”
associate professor of psychology
Holly Arrow said in an e-mail
interview. “It is useful to pass this information on to others because learning that a person can’t be trusted to behave properly warns all who hear the gossip to beware of this person. This provides some social protection against others who might try to take advantage of us.”
Arrow added that, from an
evolutionary perspective, it makes sense that information about forms of cheating such as stealing,
sexual misbehavior and political corruption, are frequently shared.
According to the book “Grooming, Gossip and the Evolution of
Language” by psychologist Robin Dunbar, around two-thirds of human conversation is taken up with matters of social import. However, a study by Dunbar and her colleagues, which was cited in the book, found that only 5 percent of conversation was related to criticism and negative
gossip, and that the most-commonly discussed topics were who-was-
doing-what-with whom and personal social experiences.
Dunbar’s study also found few
differences between males and
females in the topics they talked about. However, according to the study, two-thirds of women’s social conversation is devoted to other
people’s experiences rather than their own, compared with men
who only talk about other people one-third of the time.
Modern technology has made it possible for gossip to be transmitted via the Internet.
“When such hostile messages
include the instruction ‘Forward this to everyone you know,’ our human propensity to pass on negative
information quickly makes people prone to comply with this ‘order’ without stopping to think,” Arrow stated, citing the speed of Internet communication.
Despite the omnipresence of gossip, many religious groups disapprove of it.
“Gossip is a form of misuse of speech,” said Father David Orique of St. Thomas More Newman Center Catholic Campus Ministry. “There are different ways we can use our speech as Christians. We can be
disrespectful of God or disrespectful of our neighbor, and gossip is
disrespectful of our neighbor.”
Orique advises people who feel guilty about gossiping to resolve their problems more openly.
“I might ask them, ‘Do you feel like you can go and talk to that person directly?’” Orique said. He added that, if direct reconciliation does not seem possible, people do something kind or say a prayer for the person they have hurt or do an act of justice in that person’s name.
In the Jewish tradition, the term for gossip is “leshon hara.”
“The literal translation of ‘leshon hara’ is evil speech or evil tongue,” Oregon Hillel program director Andi Lipstein said. “It is prohibited, in part because anything that lowers another person’s reputation or would shame another person is prohibited.”
However, Lipstein added that avoiding gossip is difficult, if not impossible for most people.
“People are fascinating. We’re so interesting that what better is there to talk about than each other?” she said.

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