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posted by martyb on Saturday October 07 2017, @08:14PM   Printer-friendly
from the can-you-believe-it? dept.

In this study, 290 heterosexual Canadian students between the ages of 17 and 30 years old completed three questionnaires. One measured how competitive the participants are towards members of the same sex as their own, especially in terms of access to the attention of potential mates. The other questionnaires measured the tendency and likelihood of the participants to gossip about others, the perceived social value of gossip, and whether it is okay to talk about others behind their backs.

It was found that people who were competitive towards members of their own sex had a greater tendency to gossip. They were also more comfortable with the practice than others. Women had a greater tendency to gossip than men, and they also enjoyed it more, and saw more value in participating in such chit-chat. Men were more likely to gossip about the achievements of others. Such talk among women often targeted the physical appearance of another, and was used to share social information. Women also found gossip to have greater social value, which may allow them [to] gather more information about possible competitors in the game of finding a mate. It may also help to hone their ability to gossip in future.

There you have it--it's been scientifically proven.


Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by looorg on Sunday October 08 2017, @01:48AM (2 children)

    by looorg (578) on Sunday October 08 2017, @01:48AM (#578733)

    It may also help to hone their ability to gossip in future.

    You gossip to become better at gossiping so that you can gossip even more in the future. Is there some kind of gossip Olympics I just never heard about?

    "The findings demonstrate that gossip is intimately linked to mate competition and not solely the product of a female gender stereotype that may be viewed as pejorative," states Davis, who believes that therapists, counsellors, educators, and the general public should rethink their stance about gossip. "It is a highly evolved social skill essential for interpersonal relationships, rather than a flaw of character."

    While gossip might be the social glue that bind people together, or put them in competition, it is still a really unattractive feature. So while being a gossiping bitch might be a useful and essential skill, for women, it's also a massive turnoff (for me, as a man).

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  • (Score: 3, Funny) by rylyeh on Sunday October 08 2017, @03:51AM

    by rylyeh (6726) <{kadath} {at} {gmail.com}> on Sunday October 08 2017, @03:51AM (#578759)

    You didn't hear this from me, but...

    --
    "a vast crenulate shell wherein rode the grey and awful form of primal Nodens, Lord of the Great Abyss."
  • (Score: 2) by snufu on Monday October 09 2017, @03:32AM

    by snufu (5855) on Monday October 09 2017, @03:32AM (#579103)

    "It is a highly evolved social skill essential for interpersonal relationships, rather than a flaw of character."

    There are many human traits inherited from our pre-civilized ancestors that we now suppress because they are no longer necessary or detrimental to modern social cooperation. Gossip does far more bad than good.