1. “If we all said to people’s faces what we say behind one another’s backs, society would be impossible.“ These are the words of French writer Honoré de Balzac, clearly a man who understood the importance of gossip. Gossiping is something many of us have done — although we may not admit it.
2. In the workplace, jobs website Indeed describes it as “informal communication that people share” about colleagues or bosses. And, it “typically involves information that is personal or private.”
3. Gossiping is natural, says Megan Robbins, who teaches psychology at the University of California, Riverside. Others go further, saying it’s important, useful and even good for our mental health.
Is most of the gossip you hear at work positive or negative?
4. But that depends on the type of gossip. In a 2022 study, researchers separated gossip into two categories: positive and negative. They found that positive gossip — which could include speaking admiringly about a colleague — can be good for our mental health. Meanwhile, negative gossip has a negative effect.
5. However, a 2019 analysis by Robbins and a colleague suggested that three-quarters of our gossip is actually neither positive nor negative. They also found we gossip for an average of 52 minutes a day! Neutral gossip, say experts, can be useful because it contributes to office camaraderie.
6. Others say gossip can help us find out who we can trust — and this can make groups work better. But with many teams now often working from home, we get our gossip in different ways — often online.
(1) Do you often get together with colleagues after work hours?
(2)Which of your colleagues do you trust the most? Do you work well with them?
7. “More bad things can happen more quickly” when we chat online, warns Frank McAndrew, a psychology professor from Knox College in the US, speaking to the BBC. That might mean a colleague sharing a private message you sent them, or even the employer monitoring online communication.
8. The safest thing to do, then, is to avoid negative gossip, wherever you’re doing it. While we can learn from positive or neutral gossip, when it’s negative, says Robbins, “no-one is benefitting.”
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