Warnings of the negative effects of gossip have been issued from churches, parents and teachers. But on June 3, Psychology Today published an article titled, " Gossip Creates Closeness" by Nathan Heflick who said, "Research shows that sharing this negative information - when it is also shared by others - can make us feel closer to each other."
Gossip seems to circulate in many different ways from personal life, celebrity life, and political life to business life. And does it bring closeness? Businesses would disagree. Countless articles have been published as to the negative effect of gossip in the workplace. Rapid Learning Institute Resource said " Gossip in the workplace kills productivity and creates discontent among the employees"
And countless articles are published on the how to deal with the effects of gossip. The definition of gossip, according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary is "a person who habitually reveals personal or sensational facts about others" or " rumor or report of an intimate nature."
Gossip is a rumor, not necessarily a fact and can often be seen as slander to someone's reputation when taken too far.
A commenter on Ask.com said " Gossip allows mistakes from the past to haunt someone, making it difficult or impossible to start over."
The word "gossip" does not seem to have positive connotations but it seems that Psychology Today is offering that positive perspective.
But really, is it OK to become close to a person by spreading lies, or sharing hearsay with that person?
And ABC seems to consent to gossip saying that, " Researchers from Northeastern University and the University of California say social gossip allows people to learn about others across a very wide group. That in turn gives people the cues they need to know who they want to be friends with, or not, without having to actually spend lots of time with them first."
But are these cues accurate cues when they could be coming from someone who doesn't like that person, doesn't really know the person, is just passing along gossip they heard from another person?
Not only does gossip circulate amongst and about friends but it piles onto the newsstands and in grocery stores in the form of magazines that highlight the dirty secrets and hidden "truths" about celebrities or politicians.
Gossip even spills into Politics, wnewsj.com, recently said that gossip seems to be spilling into politics. Many political figures have dropped from the political sphere from fear of having their good name slandered or that of their family. Gossip seems to be shown positively as the writer of the article said, "Character matters in politics, especially in a president. The way candidates behave in their private lives is illuminating of their public character; the decision about how to weigh that behind-closed-doors conduct in the context of a larger career ought to be up to voters. Ultimately, the cost of ignoring candidates’ personal lives is greater than the price of probing them."
But the only problem with probing too deeply into a candidate's life is the gossip that comes with it. What was portrayed as "fact" about a politician's life can later be seen as merely salacious gossip?
This in turn affects and impairs judgment. Disovermagazine.com discusses how gossip affects our vision as well as our judgment, " Gossip, especially negative gossip, affects not only our judgment, but our vision too. It influences both what we think about someone and whether we see them in the first place."
The seemingly positive side of gossip does not even seem to come close to outweigh the negative side of gossip.
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