"Have a big chat" with your friends and become closer! Study: Moderate gossip can promote social connections
Most of Taiwan’s gossip culture is produced by the news media. The private behaviors and marriages of many celebrities are often used to make big fuss, and they often become topics of conversation in the streets and after dinner. Some people think that gossiping is unethical. Talking behind other people’s backs without their consent, or paying too much attention to other people’s private lives, are both disgraceful behaviors. If it seriously affects the daily lives of others, gossiping is indeed not worth encouraging; but according to American research, moderate gossiping can actually promote social connections and help you understand the world better through the experiences of others!
Is “gossip” not entirely a bad thing? Study: Can make friendships closer
This study was initiated by Dartmouth College in the United States. Researchers looked at why people always like to spend so much time gossiping about themselves and others when talking, and tried to understand what role gossip plays in them. . So the researchers created a game online. In each round of the game, 6 players can get 10 US dollars. They can decide whether to keep it for themselves or use it as a group mutual fund. This fund can be multiplied by 1.5 times and distributed equally to other players.
The researchers allowed players to privately chat with other players, which created tension in the game: They were able to discuss who made selfish decisions and who was a generous player. Not only that, when players cannot directly observe what is happening in the game, they prefer to talk to others, exchange information in exchange for knowledge, and find ways to win the game. Research also shows that players feel more connected to the people they talk to the most.
Study author Luke Chang believes that in other games, players contribute less and less over time and the network begins to disintegrate. However, in this study, when players could communicate privately, they tended to work together to solve problems and build bonds. Zhang Luke said that gossip should not be defined as “meaningless trash talk.” If used properly, it can actually help people learn from other people’s experiences and at the same time, in the process, bring each other closer, which is a kind of building. The way to a good relationship.
Young people are more likely to talk about negative gossip, and women’s chat content is mainly neutral.
In fact, there are still many misunderstandings about gossip. For example, the University of California, Riverside (UC Riverside) conducted research and found that young people are more likely to discuss gossip than middle-aged and elderly people, and most gossip is negative news, so it is not just food. The grocery shopping aunties in the market like to chat about right and wrong; and the gossip content women talk about is mostly neutral and focuses on purely sharing knowledge and life. It is not the stereotype that a group of women will tend to speak ill of others when they get together. In addition, when women chat and gossip, they mostly share things about each other and rarely talk about celebrities and entertainers.
Based on the above, there is no harm in talking freely with friends as long as it does not harm others; especially now that the conditions for unblocking are gradually loosened, everyone must be eager to share what they did during the level 3 alert with relatives and friends. In fact, knowing more about the current situation of relatives and friends can indeed make the relationship closer; however, it should be noted that the current situation is not completely unblocked. “Healthorn” reminds the public that when meeting with relatives and friends, they can still use outdoor spaces. Wear masks, maintain social distance from each other, and abide by relevant epidemic prevention regulations to completely prevent the possibility of local epidemic spread and avoid a recurrence of the epidemic outbreak in May this year.
source:
Who Gossips and How in Everyday Life?
Gossip drives vicarious learning and facilitates social connection
