Neuroscience
Well, something like that. According to an article in today’s New York Times, it serves a serious purpose among social groups -- helps keep people within social norms (read the part about how people who want to leave work early are shunned by their colleagues in a group whose ethic is to work horrid hours).
The study didn't quite say that it was ok to gossip, but since it is so prevalent *and* serves to keep people in line, maybe it's ok after all?
Reminds me of Laura Sizer's question: what purpose do emotions serve (anger, love, etc.)? Why did we evolve to have these emotions? Today's question: Why did we evolve to gossip?
- Why Do We Sometimes Like Getting Sad Together?
We spend most of our lives trying to be as happy as possible, but a team of researchers in Israel has explored how we sometimes appear to find, if not pleasure exactly, at least a certain satisfaction in sharing moments of sadness with others. To investigate...
- Prolific Gossipers Are Disliked And Seen As Weak
Gossip might be the social glue that binds us, but prolific proponents of tittle-tattle should beware - gossipers are perceived not just as unlikeable but also as lacking social influence. Sally Farley made her finding after asking 128 participants (mostly...
- How Our Visual System Is Guided By Gossip Radar
The kind of negative tittle-tattle that appears daily in the tabloids seems to bear little merit. But experts believe that historically, paying attention to such gossip played an important role in our survival chances, such that today negative hearsay...
- The Insula Keeps Getting Its Due From The New York Times!
From today's New York Times A Small Part of the Brain, and Its Profound Effects By SANDRA BLAKESLEE [snip] According to neuroscientists who study it, the insula is a long-neglected brain region that has emerged as crucial to understanding what it...
- Emotions Are All In The Mind
ABC Radio National’s All in the Mind just ran a 4 part series on emotion. They covered Sexual Desire (arguably not an emotion), Anger, Jealousy, and Joy. They feature comments from real people who experience the emotion in question, interspersed with...
Neuroscience
Pssst ... gossip is good for you
Well, something like that. According to an article in today’s New York Times, it serves a serious purpose among social groups -- helps keep people within social norms (read the part about how people who want to leave work early are shunned by their colleagues in a group whose ethic is to work horrid hours).
The study didn't quite say that it was ok to gossip, but since it is so prevalent *and* serves to keep people in line, maybe it's ok after all?
Reminds me of Laura Sizer's question: what purpose do emotions serve (anger, love, etc.)? Why did we evolve to have these emotions? Today's question: Why did we evolve to gossip?
- Why Do We Sometimes Like Getting Sad Together?
We spend most of our lives trying to be as happy as possible, but a team of researchers in Israel has explored how we sometimes appear to find, if not pleasure exactly, at least a certain satisfaction in sharing moments of sadness with others. To investigate...
- Prolific Gossipers Are Disliked And Seen As Weak
Gossip might be the social glue that binds us, but prolific proponents of tittle-tattle should beware - gossipers are perceived not just as unlikeable but also as lacking social influence. Sally Farley made her finding after asking 128 participants (mostly...
- How Our Visual System Is Guided By Gossip Radar
The kind of negative tittle-tattle that appears daily in the tabloids seems to bear little merit. But experts believe that historically, paying attention to such gossip played an important role in our survival chances, such that today negative hearsay...
- The Insula Keeps Getting Its Due From The New York Times!
From today's New York Times A Small Part of the Brain, and Its Profound Effects By SANDRA BLAKESLEE [snip] According to neuroscientists who study it, the insula is a long-neglected brain region that has emerged as crucial to understanding what it...
- Emotions Are All In The Mind
ABC Radio National’s All in the Mind just ran a 4 part series on emotion. They covered Sexual Desire (arguably not an emotion), Anger, Jealousy, and Joy. They feature comments from real people who experience the emotion in question, interspersed with...