Gossip consists of rumors or other information about the personal or private affairs of others. Gossiping is the sharing of gossip. Gossip often circulates within social groups and may serve social functions such as bonding, norm enforcement, or the sharing of reputational information. However, gossiping has often been viewed negatively by societies throughout history.
Etymology The word is from Old English godsibb, from god and sibb, the term for the godparents of one's child or the parents of one's godchild, generally very close friends. In the 16th century, the word assumed the meaning of a person, mostly a woman, one who delights in idle talk, a newsmonger, a tattler.OED In the early 19th century, the term was extended from the talker to the conversation of such persons. The verb to gossip, meaning "to be a gossip", first appears in the writings of Shakespeare.
The term originates from the bedroom at the time of childbirth. Giving birth used to be a social event exclusively attended by women. The pregnant woman's female relatives and neighbors would congregate and idly converse. In the Middle Ages, "a gossip" referred to a community of tight-knit friendships between women. Over time, gossip came to mean talk of others."If Walls Could Talk: The History of the Home (Bedroom), Lucy Worsley, BBC"
Functions
Gossip can: reinforceor punish the lack ofmorality and accountability reveal passive aggression, isolating and harming others build and maintain a sense of community with shared interests, information, and values begin a courtship that helps one find their desired mate, by counseling others provide a peer-to-peer mechanism for disseminating information
Workplace gossip Mary Gormandy White, a human resource expert, gives the following "signs" for identifying workplace gossip: Animated people become silent ("Conversations stop when you enter the room") People begin staring at someone Workers indulge in inappropriate topics of conversation.Jeanne Grunert, "When Gossip Strikes", OfficePro, January/February 2010, pp. 16-18, at 17, IAAP website. Accessed March 9, 2010. White suggests "five tips ... [to] handle the situation with aplomb: Rise above the gossip Understand what causes or fuels the gossip Do not participate in workplace gossip. Allow for the gossip to go away on its own If it persists, "gather facts and seek help."
Peter Vajda identifies gossip as a form of workplace violence, noting that it is "essentially a form of attack." Gossip is thought by many to "empower one person while disempowering another" (Hafen).Accordingly, many companies have formal policies in their employee handbooks against gossip. Sometimes there is room for disagreement on exactly what constitutes unacceptable gossip, since workplace gossip may take the form of offhand remarks about someone's tendencies such as "He always takes a long lunch," or "Don't worry, that's just how she is."
TLK Healthcare cites as examples of gossip, "tattletaling to the boss without intention of furthering a solution or speaking to co-workers about something someone else has done to upset us." Corporate email can be a particularly dangerous method of gossip delivery, as the medium is semi-permanent and messages are easily forwarded to unintended recipients; accordingly, a Mass High Tech article advised employers to instruct employees against using company email networks for gossip."Companies must spell out employee e-mail policies", Warren E. Agin, Swiggart & Agin, LLC, Mass High Tech, November 18, 1996. Low self-esteem and a desire to "fit in" are frequently cited as motivations for workplace gossip.
There are five essential functions that gossip has in the workplace (according to DiFonzo & Bordia): Helps individuals learn social information about other individuals in the organization (often without even having to meet the other individual) Builds social networks of individuals by bonding co-workers together and affiliating people with each other. Breaks existing bonds by ostracizing individuals within an organization. Enhances one's social status/power/prestige within the organization. Informs individuals as to what is considered socially acceptable behavior within the organization.
According to Kurkland and Pelled, workplace gossip can be very serious depending upon the amount of power that the gossiper has over the recipient, which will in turn affect how the gossip is interpreted. There are four types of power that are influenced by gossip: Coercive: when a gossiper tells negative information about a person, their recipient might believe that the gossiper will also spread negative information about them. This causes the gossiper's coercive power to increase. Reward: when a gossiper tells positive information about a person, their recipient might believe that the gossiper will also spread positive information about them. This causes the gossiper's reward power to increase. Expert: when a gossiper seems to have very detailed knowledge of either the organization's values or about others in the work environment, their expert power becomes enhanced. Referent: this power can either be reduced OR enhanced to a point. When people view gossiping as a petty activity done to waste time, a gossiper's referent power can decrease along with their reputation. When a recipient is thought of as being invited into a social circle by being a recipient, the gossiper's referent power can increase, but only to a high point where then the recipient begins to resent the gossiper (Kurland & Pelled).
Negative consequences of the gossip Some serious negative consequences of gossip may include: Lost productivity and time wasting Erosion of trust and morale between members of the working community Increased anxiety among employees as rumors circulate without any clear information as to what is fact and what is not Growing divisiveness among employees as people "take sides", risks of "infighting" that may further deteriorate unity Hurt feelings and reputations Jeopardized chances for the gossipers' advancement as they are perceived as unprofessional, and Attrition: good employees tend to leave the company due to the unhealthy work atmosphere and lack of trust Turner and Weed theorize that among the three main types of responders to workplace conflict are attackers who cannot keep their feelings to themselves and express their feelings by attacking whatever they can. Attackers are further divided into up-front attackers and behind-the-back attackers. Turner and Weed note that the latter "are difficult to handle because the target person is not sure of the source of any criticism, nor even always sure that there is criticism."Conflict in organizations: Practical solutions any manager can use; Turner, Stephen P. (University of South Florida); Weed, Frank; 1983.
It is possible however, that there may be illegal, unethical, or disobedient behavior happening at the workplace and this may be a case where reporting the behavior may be viewed as gossip. It is then left up to the authority in charge to fully investigate the matter and not simply look past the report and assume it to be workplace gossip.
Informal networks through which communication occurs in an organization are sometimes called the grapevine. In a study done by Harcourt, Richerson, and Wattier, it was found that middle managers in several different organizations believed that gathering information from the grapevine was a much better way of learning information than through formal communication with their subordinates (Harcourt, Richerson & Wattier).
Various views Some see gossip as trivial, hurtful and socially, spiritually and/or intellectually unproductive. Some people view gossip as a lighthearted way of spreading information. Authorities or would-be authorities may have a negative view of gossip as something undesirable or dangerous. Philosophical analysis by Emrys Westacott points to the role of gossip in (for example) cementing friendships and combatting abuses of power. A feminist definition of gossip presents it as "a way of talking between women, intimate in style, personal and domestic in scope and setting, a female cultural event which springs from and perpetuates the restrictions of the female role, but also gives the comfort of validation." (Jones, 1990:243)
In early modern England
In early modern England, the word "gossip" referred to companions in childbirth, not limited to the midwife. It also became a term for women-friends generally, with no necessary derogatory connotations. (OED n. definition 2. a. "A familiar acquaintance, friend, chum", supported by references from 1361 to 1873). It commonly referred to an informal local sorority or social group, who could enforce socially acceptable behavior through private censure or through public rituals, such as "rough music", the cucking stool and the skimmington ride.
Silvia Federici notes that, in the sixteenth century, satirical literature and mystery plays that mocked women and expressed misogynous sentiments gave way to what could be described as a "war on women".
In Thomas Harman's 1566 Caveat for Common Cursitors, a 'walking mort' relates how she was forced to agree to meet a man in his barn but informed his wife. The wife arrived with her "five furious, sturdy, muffled gossips," who caught the errant husband with "his hosen [trousers] about his legs" and gave him a sound beating. The story functions as a morality tale in which the gossips uphold the social order.Bernard Capp, When Gossips Meet: Women, Family and Neighbourhood in Early Modern England, Oxford University Press, 2003.
Sir Herbert Maxwell Bart, in The Chevalier of the Splendid Crest at the end of chapter three portrays the king as referring to his loyal knight "Sir Thomas de Roos" in kindly terms as "my old gossip". Whilst a historical novel of that time the reference implies a continued use of the term "Gossip" as a childhood friend as late as 1900.
In Judaism
Judaism considers gossip spoken without a constructive purpose (known in Hebrew as "evil tongue", lashon hara) to be a sin. Speaking negatively about people, even if retelling true facts, counts as sinful, as it demeans the dignity of man — both the speaker and the subject of the gossip. According to Proverbs 18:8: "The words of a gossip are like choice morsels: they go down to a man's innermost parts."
In Christianity The Christian perspective on gossip typically aligns with modern cultural assumptions of the phenomenon, especially with the assumption that generally speaking, gossip is negative speech.Sedler, M.D. (2001). Stop the Runaway Conversation: Take Control Over Gossip and Criticism. Grand Rapids: Chosen.Mitchell, Mathew C. (2013). Resisting Gossip: Winning the War of the Wagging Tongue. Fort Washington: CLC Publications. However, due to the complexity of the phenomenon, biblical scholars have more precisely identified the form and function of gossip, even identifying a socially positive role for the social process as it is described in the New Testament.Daniels, John W. (2013). Gossiping Jesus: The Oral Processing of Jesus in John's Gospel. Eugene: Pickwick Publications.Daniels, John W. (2012). "Gossip in the New Testament". Biblical Theology Bulletin 42/4. pp. 204-213.Kartzow, Marianne B. (2009). Gossip and Gender: Othering of Speech in the Pastoral Epistles. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.Kartzow, Marianne B. (2010) "Resurrection as Gossip: Representations of Women in Resurrection Stories of the Gospels", Lectio Difficilior 1.Rohrbaugh, Richard L. (2007). "Gossip in the New Testament". The New Testament in Cross-Cultural Perspective. Eugene: Cascade Books. Of course, this does not mean that there are not numerous texts in the New Testament that see gossip as dangerous negative speech.