“Mom, you want to hear some juicy news?” asks my daughter in a mood to gossip at home. At my office, my secretaries gossip as well. I ask them what they gossip about when I am not there. “About you, doctor,” they say and laugh. “Just kidding. We talk about weight, dieting, hairdo and clothes.”
Why do people gossip? Is there any benefit? – reflects Dr. Raghavendra Rao.

Gossip is defined as informal conversation or writing about recent and often personal events, whether a rumor or a fact. According to Robin Dunbar, a psychologist at the University of Liverpool, England, two-thirds of all human conversation is gossip, which involves people who are not present. Most of the gossip is about one’s own personal experience and revelations of who is doing what and with whom.

Gossip is suited for bonding among members of a large social group and this helped in better communication and in resolving conflicts.

Women and men differ in how they gossip. Men gossip more with their romantic partners. The women usually gossip with their female friends. The topic is usually about other women. Somehow, both men and women are interested in gossip about the rich and famous. Negative news of ordinary people is not favored. On the other hand, misfortunes such as divorces and deaths of the rich and famous are fuels for hot gossip. Michael Jackson’s demise is still a very sizzling subject for gossip.

Is gossip beneficial to us in the modern society? Yes, say the experts. Researchers feel that gossip acts like a comparing tool at the social level between an individual and the rest. Robin Dunbar says that gossip has been selected by evolution as a way to hold large human groups together. Sharing personal information with someone amounts to a deep trust in that individual and brings people closer. It is assumed that the recipient of the information will not spread the news to others and cause embarrassment. A person who spreads the news indiscriminately outside the trusted group or listens to all the gossip but does not contribute is usually dropped off from the group and he or she often becomes the hot topic for gossip. This indirectly puts pressure on the misbehaved individual, who soon learns the group’s norms and unwritten rules and behaves properly in the group.

So, go ahead and gossip. I am ready to listen.