Word on the street is that gossiping gets a bad rap. Turns out, it's not all rumors and innuendo. Sometimes it’s actually quite good for us.
It’s probably hard to believe but that’s because when we think of “gossip” we think of people trading negative secrets or spreading fake news about other people. But that’s like the junk food equivalent of gossip. The fact is most “gossip” is simply idle chit chat and according to the study, about 14% of people’s daily conservations fall into this category.
To test and see just how beneficial gossip is for us, researchers from Dartmouth College created an online game to study how people engage in it. In the end, what they found is gossiping was great for creating social connections and for teaching people new things. Researcher Eshin Jolly says this is because “people learn through the experiences of others” and what is gossip if not a great story. And if it happens to be caddy… even better.
HT: Study Finds
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