Get Up And Do Something: Gossip protects us from the slackers in the group

Get Up And Do Something Get up and Do Something is a program of the Delaware Coalition to Promote Physical Activity and Healthy Nutrition. Your source for optimal health.

Gossip protects us from the slackers in the group Dec 28th 2012, 12:50 Gossip usually gets a bad rap, but a new study suggests it can do some good: It might discourage some of us from slacking off. The study reveals that the good form of gossip can protect a group from individuals looking for a free ride, which can be a good thing for co-workers on a project team, students in a study group, or parents serving on a school committee, to name a few. We tend to think of gossip as the nasty rumors spread behind someone's back or what busybodies blabber about for lack of anything better to say. But it can be more than that, says study author Bianca Beersma, PhD, an associate professor in the department of work and organizational psychology at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. "Gossip is not merely a trivial activity, nor is it always detrimental to group functioning," says Beersma says. "It can serve neutral and even positive functions for groups."

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