Nick O’Connor RANZCP Congress Perth May 2014 1 2 Elements of the Gossip Mind Map Related phenomena Functions of gossip Gossip pathologies Eavesdropping Information Shaming Hearsay Influence Bullying/ harassment Rumour Entertainment Mobbing Reputation Social control Schadenfreude Grapevine Social bonding Splitting Stereotyping Self-appraisal, social Subterfuge comparison Myth and legend Morale Sabotage Hearsay Culture Scandal Social contagion Early warning/Sentinel 3 “Gossip is always a personal confession of malice or imbecility; it is a low, frivolous, and too often a dirty business. There are neighborhoods (sic) where it rages like a pest; churches are split in pieces by it, and neighbors (sic) made enemies for life. Let the young avoid or cure it while they may.” 4 The flying rumours gathr’d as they roll’d, Scarce any tale was sooner heard than told; And all who told it added something new, And all who heard it made enlargements too’. ‘The Temple of Fame’ 5 “I don't at all like knowing what people say of me behind my back. It makes me far too conceited.” “The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.” ”Scandal is gossip made tedious by morality” 6 7 There is a place at the centre of the World, between the zones of earth, sea, and sky, at the boundary of the three worlds. From here, whatever exists is seen, however far away, and every voice reaches listening ears. Rumour lives there,… All rustles with noise, echoes voices, and repeats what is heard. There is no peace within: no silence anywhere. Yet there is no clamour, only the subdued murmur of voices, like the waves of the sea,…. Crowds fill the hallways: a fickle populace comes and goes, and, mingling truth randomly with fiction, a thousand rumours wander, and confused words circulate. Of these, some fill idle ears with chatter, others carry tales, and the author adds something new to what is heard. Matthew Cheyne 2009 Publius Ovidius Naso (43 BC – AD 17) 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Idle talk, groundless rumour, tittle-tattle; unrestrained talk or writing especially about people or social incidents (New Shorter Oxford Dictionary). 28 Originally meant ‘god-related’ and designated a god-parent. By 18th century gained second meaning – ‘tippling companion’ – and at about the same time became connected specifically to women. In early 1800s became defined as a mode of conversation rather than a type of person and became the word we understand today to indicate idle or groundless talk or rumours. 29 “exchange of evaluative information about absent third parties” E K Foster (2004) “evaluative social talk about individuals usually not present, that arises in the context of social network formation, change and maintenance- that is; in the context of building group solidarity.” DiFonzo N Bordia P (2007) Workplace gossip: “informal and evaluative talk about another member of that organisation who is not present.” Kurland N Pelled L (2000) 30 An unverified or unconfirmed statement or report circulating in a community. (New Shorter Oxford Dictionary). “the serial transmission of unverified information typically through weak social ties.” (Adut A) 31 Workplace: Wartime: Turnover Dread Pecking order Wish Job security Wedge-driving Job quality Curiosity Costly error Consumer concern Knapp R H (1944) DiFonzo N Bordia P (2007) 32 33 34 35 Gossip travels within a defined group through existing communication circuits; rumour has its own communication pathways and groups Gossip mirrors the moral code of a small group; rumours normally express a public moral code Gossip tends to be more spontaneous, rumour: a more purposive activity. Gossip is an unverified message about someone whilst rumour is an unverified message about something (either trite or of great importance) 36 Gossip is a relatively safe way to spread a secret within the in- group Rumour is the method for leaking a secret to a wide, undetermined audience. 37 Defines membership and social identity: in-group and out-group Communicates alliances and strengthens social bonds Communicates group rules and norms in narrative form and thus promotes cultural competence. A means of social control, a sanction that forces us to adhere more closely to social norms: “slackers”, “free riders”, “freeloaders”, “bludgers” May enhance self-esteem and self-confidence through social comparison. 38 May convey important cultural, organisational information: background or strategic. Sense-making: e.g. in organisations – reducing ambiguity and uncertainty Gossip can have a subversive function: people gossip about the rich, famous and powerful. Entertainment and diversion Excitement (illicit and subversive nature of the exercise) and this may be mutually bonding 39 Awareness of what others might say about our actions may promote a self-evaluative, self-observing capacity. The learning of empathy: learning about the responses of other people and formulating loose generalisations about human motivation. Investigative (of reputation): e.g. use of informal, off the record inquiries in the employee selection process. Early warning, sentinel function: may be a canary in the coal mine within organisations; an early alert to a rogue doctor or unsound and unsafe practices 40 Group living requires the servicing of relational bonds and alliances that promote cooperation and deter “free riding” (lack of reciprocity). The human neocortex developed to enable the complex language and relational processing in human group living. 41 ‘gossip cells’ and ‘cliques’ amongst residents of Plainsville, USA. “… gossip does not have isolated roles in community life but is the blood and tissue of that life.” “It is a hallmark of membership.” Max Gluckman 42 “If a man does not join in The Pony and Johnny outside the church- The Outsiders. gossip he shows that he does not accept that he is party to the relationship.” If no one tells you the gossip, you are an outsider. 43 Elizabeth Bott (1971) studied 20 families in London. The women belonged to a gossip network. Mutual aid was extended to those who belonged to this network. The price of belonging was willingness to gossip and be gossiped about. “no gossip no companionship” 44 Professional gossip: “built into technical jargon so tightly that the outsider cannot always detect the slight personal knockdown concealed in the technical recital” High status social groups that are focused on excluding the parvenus: gossip as a social weapon, Groups that are excluded, marginalised, e.g. minorities, 45 A fundamental function of gossip is to provide a mechanism for “reputational inquiries”. Emler defines reputation as “a collective phenomenon and a product of social processes”. “Through one’s actions, one relates to others and makes impressions on them. These impressions, taken as a whole, constitute an individual’s reputation – that is what other people think of you.” 46 Reputation is important because human groups depend on patterns of cooperation through a series of informal and formal economies of social exchange. Reputation is at the heart of social identity and is responsible for inter-individual behavioural consistencies. Exclusion, avoidance , ostracism and shaming “The continuity or interconnectedness of audience turns impression management into reputation management.” (Embler 1990) 47 Gossip ensures the principle of ‘reciprocal altruism’by punitively spreading information about ‘free-riders’, ‘slackers’ or ‘bludgers’. Sommerfeld and colleagues have shown with two elegant experiments how reputation mediated by gossip exerts a strong influence on cooperative dynamics and prosocial behaviour. Further they showed that the multiplicity of gossip statements about a person’s cooperative behaviours ensured that false or inaccurate gossip is counter-acted and corrected. 48 Studies show that people were more likely to behave in a prosocial manner when they knew they were identifiable and that others might gossip about their actions. “..gossip, by dealing with concrete instances of moral transgression, gives routine operational definition to otherwise rather abstract principles of morality.” “Gossip offers passive resistance to many forms of power”: Tall poppy syndrome, spread of counter-government information in totalitarian regimes. 49 Despite the higher number of friends, high frequency gossipers were significantly less liked than low frequency gossipers. Negative gossipers were less liked than positive gossipers. High frequency gossipers had lower social status and less power than low frequency gossipers. Farley S (2011) However, high frequency gossipers are more likely than low frequency gossipers to challenge free riders (policing function) and avoid being exploited by them (wanted control). Farley S Timme D Hart J (2010) 50 “the gossip presequence not only secures the acquaintance of the future subject of gossip but it also clarifies the kind of knowledge the actors have of this mutually known acquaintance.” (Bergmann 1993) This presequence may include fishing: “innocently signalling, through repeated thematization of apparently innocuous details or data, an interest in the fate of a common acquaintance” Authentication strategies include: weaving precise details about time and place into the story, use of quotes +/- “intonative-paralinguistic accentuation” (Bergmann J R 1993) Commentary and evaluation may involve: social typing: (loony, nuts, moron, arse-licker, mummy’s boy…) and moralising: (That’s no way