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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.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 08 2017, @10:38AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 08 2017, @10:38AM (#578833)

    Being a character flaw and being essential to interpersonal relationships are not mutually exclusive at all. Despite all of the claims otherwise society cannot abide by one hundred percent honest people. Lying can get you far and it is still a character flaw.

  • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday October 09 2017, @05:35AM

    by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Monday October 09 2017, @05:35AM (#579137) Journal

    Tell me about it. People don't like honesty, and they make it quite clear in how they actually act vs. what they say. I'm even more of a misfit than being a six foot woman would cause on its own because I tend to be completely honest. Not "blunt/assholeish and calling it honesty" either, I just don't lie very much. I'm not good at it, and too lazy to remember a bunch of lies anyway.

    Apparently people really do want smoke blown their asses, but I seem to have been born without a pack of cigarettes. Oh well...

    --
    I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...