Of Tabloids and Family Secrets: The Evolutionary Psychology of Gossip1

Francis T. McAndrew · Megan A. Milenkovic

131 citations0/0 files storedJournal of Applied Social Psychology

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Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation Social Power and Status Dynamics

Abstract

Two experiments tested hypotheses about gossip derived from an evolutionary perspective. In the first experiment, 128 people ranging in age from 17 to 62 years ranked the interest value of 12 tabloid stories about celebrities differing in age and gender. In the second experiment, 83 college students ranked the interest value and likelihood of spreading gossip about male or female professors, relatives, friends, acquaintances, or strangers based on 12 different gossip scenarios. The results of these experiments confirmed a consistent pattern of interest in gossip marked by a preference for information about others of the same age and gender. Exploitable information in the form of damaging, negative news about nonallies and positive news about allies was especially prized and likely to be passed on. The findings confirm that gossip can serve as a strategy of status enhancement and function in the interests of individuals, and that it does not just function as a means of social control within groups.

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References

1971The Evolution of Reciprocal Altruism 1907The descent of man and selection in relation to sex 1976The Selfish Gene 1999Unto Others: The Evolution and Psychology of Unselfish Behavior 1996Grooming, Gossip and the Evolution of Language 2006The Handbook of evolutionary psychology 1991Order without Law 2009Order without Law

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2012The co-evolution of gossip and friendship in workplace social networks 2010Evolutionary Perspectives on Workplace Gossip: Why and How Gossip Can Serve Groups 2008Multiple gossip statements and their effect on reputation and trustworthiness 2005Utilities of gossip across organizational levels 2018Competitive reputation manipulation: Women strategically transmit social information about romantic rivals 2011Age differences in women’s tendency to gossip are mediated by their mate value

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