By: Natasha Archary
Small talk, hearsay, palaver, chitchat, the tea, spilling the beans, there’s so many terms for gossip. When you have juicy gossip to share, it’s normal to want to get it out and have your go-to person on hand.
The spreading of third-party information is something that most human beings partake in at some point. Whether you hear something that is work-related, political or closer to home, the rumour mill churns.
It’s also preconceived that women are the most prone to gossip, however, a little birdie told us that about 55% of men gossip too.
Women are also known togo to men when they have gossip to share than other women because men are often more confidential than some women are.
About 67% of women spend time talking about scandals, with office propaganda at the top of the list of topics.
The good, the bad, the ugly
Is there a difference between sharing information and gossip? Yes!
When you talk about someone in their absence it’s gossip, plain and simple. If however, you’re sharing information, it would be done in an openly transparent way.
That said, professor of psychology at Georgia Gwinnett College, David Ludden says gossip isn’t always negative in nature.
“It can be positive or neutral,” the author of The Psychology of Language: An Integrated Approach shared.
A classic example of positive gossip would be news that someone is getting married. It becomes negative gossip if those doing the gossiping spread rumours or speculate about the reasons behind the wedding.
For a lot of people, gossip is a way to socially bond, especially in the workplace, giving closed off individuals a chance to engage with people they wouldn’t normally.
Of course the negative aspects of gossiping far outweigh the lighter side to it. When hearsay and rumours spread and it effects the lives of those who linked to it, the effects can be damaging.
Reputations can be ruined and word-of-mouth spreads faster than a wildfire so one thing to remember about gossip is that if they gossip to you, they will gossip about you!
Listen to the conversation on Kaya Drive:
Also read: “My husband doesn’t want me to adopt my late sister’s child:” The Blind Spot
