IANS
17 Aug 2014, 17:00 GMT+10
Do you love to gossip and can not resist if it is related to a close colleague? You are certainly not alone.
According to Scottish researchers, people spread a story if it is about a person who is familiar to them and if it is a particularly "juicy" piece of information.
To reach this conclusion, researchers at Glasgow University and University of the West of Scotland asked participants to read fictional stories.
Nearly 100 popular celebrities, including US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, and David and Victoria Beckham, were involved in a number of false stories, such as getting pregnant, having a row in public, or being caught with drugs.
The celebrity and non-celebrity subjects were also placed in everyday scenarios such as shopping or getting coffee, the Scotsman reported.
Participants were asked to read the stories and tell scientists how likely they would be to share these stories with friends.
The results suggested that the preconceived view of a character and the predictability of a story regulated how likely someone was to gossip about a story.
"Intuitively, it is not surprising that we are more likely to gossip about familiar people and interesting stories. However, we are much more likely to gossip when a story unites a familiar person with an interesting scenario," explained lead researcher Bo Yao.
A key function of gossip may be to maintain our reputation system by receiving updates on the recent behaviour of our acquaintances.
People sometimes use gossip quite selfishly to enhance their own social status, the study noted.
The findings appeared in the journal PLOS ONE.Get a daily dose of Herald Globe news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Herald Globe.
More InformationWASHINGTON, DC - U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday claimed Elon Musk's success has been built on government subsidies. Without...
EVERGLADES, Florida: Over the weekend, a diverse coalition of environmental activists, Native American leaders, and residents gathered...
BEIJING, China: China's national soccer team may struggle to stir excitement, but its humanoid robots are drawing cheers — and not...
]LONDON, U.K.: A World Health Organization (WHO) expert group investigating the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic released its final...
DOVER, Delaware: California Governor Gavin Newsom has taken legal aim at Fox News, accusing the network of deliberately distorting...
FRANKFURT, Germany: Germany has become the latest country to challenge Chinese AI firm DeepSeek over its data practices, as pressure...
(250702) -- ATLANTA, July 2, 2025 (Xinhua) -- Supporters of CF Monterrey react before the round of 16 match between Borussia Dortmund...
(250702) -- MIAMI, July 2, 2025 (Xinhua) -- Gonzalo Garcia (R) of Real Madrid vies with Francisco Conceicao of Juventus during the...
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], July 2 (ANI): A two-person bench of Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) observed Royal Challengers...
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], July 1 (ANI): After the Bengaluru stampede near the Chinnaswamy Stadium that claimed 11 lives and left...
Bulawayo [Zimbabwe], July 1 (ANI): Following his side's win over Zimbabwe in the first Test, South African skipper Keshav Maharaj hailed...
New Delhi [India], July 1 (ANI): The last two spots for the quarterfinals of the FIFA Club World Cup will be sealed by either Spanish...