Abstract
Recent experimental studies seem to concur that gossip is good for groups by showing that gossip stems from prosocial motives to protect group members from non-cooperators. Thus, these studies emphasize the “bright” side of gossip. However, scattered studies point to detrimental outcomes of gossip for individuals and groups, arguing that a “dark” side of gossip exists. To understand the implications of gossip for cooperation in groups, both the dark and bright side of gossip must be illuminated. We investigated both sides of gossip in two scenario studies. In Study 1 (N = 108), we confronted participants with a free-rider in their group and manipulated whether the gossip recipient was the free-rider’s potential victim or not. Participants showed a higher group protection motivation in response to gossip when imagining gossiping to a potential victim of a norm violator compared to a non-victim. They showed a higher emotion venting motivation when imagining gossiping to a non-victim compared to a potential victim. Both these gossip motives were related to an increased tendency to gossip. In Study 2 (N = 104), we manipulated whether participants were the targets or observers of gossip and whether the gossip was true or false. Results showed that targets of negative gossip intended to increase their work effort in the short run, but only when the gossip was true. Furthermore, gossip targets reported lower long-term cooperative intentions toward their workgroup regardless of gossip veracity. This paper demonstrates that gossip has both a “dark” and “bright” side and that situational factors and agent perspectives determine which side prevails.
Highlights
Gossip, defined here as informally exchanging evaluative information about absent third parties, is often perceived as despicable as well as untrustworthy behavior and is condemned as a norm violation in almost all cultures (Wilson et al, 2000; Foster, 2004)
Our first study aimed to investigate whether people gossip to protect their group members from norm violators and whether other motives play a role in the tendency to gossip
If participants had the opportunity to gossip to a non-victim, emotion venting was activated more strongly and it was more predictive of the tendency to gossip than group protection
Summary
Gossip, defined here as informally exchanging evaluative information about absent third parties, is often perceived as despicable as well as untrustworthy behavior and is condemned as a norm violation in almost all cultures (Wilson et al, 2000; Foster, 2004). A plethora of recent experimental laboratory studies demonstrate that gossip is motivated by the desire to protect others from people who violate norms of cooperation These studies demonstrate that when groups gossip, or when the possibility exists that they might gossip, this deters group members from behaving selfishly, evidenced by increased donations to partners, offers in dictator games, and contributions in public goods dilemmas (Sommerfeld et al, 2007; Beersma and Van Kleef, 2011; Feinberg et al, 2012b; 2014; Wu et al, 2016a)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
