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Martinescu E. When do gossip receivers assess negative gossip as justifiable? A goal framing approach. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2024; 247:104327. [PMID: 38805879 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2024.104327] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2023] [Revised: 05/15/2024] [Accepted: 05/22/2024] [Indexed: 05/30/2024] Open
Abstract
Negative gossip is a double-edged sword, which can harm group members but also protect them from harmful others. Current theory proposes that gossip receivers assess gossipers' selfish and prosocial intentions based on different social cues, to determine whether the negative gossip behavior is morally justifiable. However, assessing gossipers' moral intentions does not fully clarify when and how justifiability of negative gossip is assessed by receivers. Using goal framing theory, I propose a parsimonious way of understanding when gossip receivers will be interested in determining whether sharing the negative gossip was justifiable, and how they assess justifiability. In line with predictions, results of two scenario experiments showed that in a hedonic and gain goal frame gossip justifiability was similar to a baseline level, suggesting that receivers had no particular concerns regarding gossip justifiability. However, in a normative frame receivers assessed negative gossip to be less justifiable when social cues indicated that the gossiper was motivated to harm others for self-interest compared to when such cues were absent (Study 1). In Study 2, gossip was more justified when social cues indicated that that the target broke the salient social norm and signaled that the gossiper has low motivation to harm. Moreover, in a normative frame, participants were more interested in further establishing gossip truthfulness compared to participants in a gain, hedonic, or control condition in Study 1, and in a hedonic condition in Study 2. These results show that individuals' goal frame determine their interest in gossip justifiability and how they assess it. This may help solve the paradox of negative gossip by drawing from goal framing theory to understand individuals can be avid gossip consumers, while holding widely disapproving attitudes towards this behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Martinescu
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Organization Sciences, De Boelelaan 1105, 1081 HV Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
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2
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Dores Cruz TD, van der Lee R, Bechtoldt MN, Beersma B. Nasty and Noble Notes: Interdependence Structures Drive Self-Serving Gossip. PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN 2023:1461672231171054. [PMID: 37231711 DOI: 10.1177/01461672231171054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Much information people receive about others reaches them via gossip. But is this gossip trustworthy? We examined this in a scenario study (Nsenders = 350, Nobservations = 700) and an interactive laboratory experiment (Nsenders = 126; Nobservations = 3024). In both studies, participants played a sequential prisoner's dilemma where a gossip sender observed a target's (first decider's) decision and could gossip about this to a receiver (second decider). We manipulated the interdependence structure such that gossipers' outcomes were equal to targets' outcomes, equal to receivers' outcomes, or independent. Compared to no interdependence, gossip was more often false when gossipers were interdependent with targets but not when interdependent with receivers. As such, false positive gossip (self-serving when interdependent with targets) increased but false negative gossip (self-serving when interdependent with receivers) did not. In conclusion, the interdependence structure affected gossip's trustworthiness: When gossipers' outcomes were interdependent with targets, gossip was less trustworthy.
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Kakarika M, Taghavi S, González-Gómez HV. Don't Shoot the Messenger? A Morality- and Gender-Based Model of Reactions to Negative Workplace Gossip. JOURNAL OF BUSINESS ETHICS : JBE 2023:1-16. [PMID: 37359792 PMCID: PMC9985476 DOI: 10.1007/s10551-023-05355-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2022] [Accepted: 02/01/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023]
Abstract
We conducted three studies to examine how the recipients of negative workplace gossip judge the gossip sender's morality and how they respond behaviorally. Study 1 provided experimental evidence that gossip recipients perceive senders as low in morality, with female recipients rating the sender's morality more negatively than male recipients. In a follow-up experiment (Study 2), we further found that perceived low morality translates into behavioral responses in the form of career-related sanctions by the recipient on the gossip sender. A critical incident study (Study 3) enhanced the external validity and extended the moderated mediation model by showing that gossip recipients also penalize senders with social exclusion. We discuss the implications for practice and research on negative workplace gossip, gender differences in attributions of morality, and gossip recipients' behavioral responses. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10551-023-05355-7.
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Workplace gossip and the evolution of friendship relations: the role of complex contagion. SOCIAL NETWORK ANALYSIS AND MINING 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s13278-022-00923-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
AbstractGossip is a pervasive phenomenon in organizations causing many individuals to have second-hand information about their colleagues. However, whether it is used to inform friendship choices (i.e., friendship creation, friendship maintenance, friendship discontinuation) is not that evident. This paper articulates and empirically tests a complex contagion model to explain how gossip, through its reputational effects, can affect the evolution of friendship ties. We argue that hearing gossip from more than a single sender (and about several targets) impacts receivers’ friendships with the gossip targets. Hypotheses are tested in a two-wave sociometric panel study among 148 employees in a Dutch childcare organization. Stochastic actor-oriented models reveal positive gossip favors receiver-target friendships, whereas negative gossip inhibits them. We also find evidence supporting that, for damaging relationships, negative gossip needs to originate in more than a single sender. Positive gossip about a high number of targets discourages friendships with colleagues in general, while negative gossip about many targets produces diverging trends. Overall, the study demonstrates that second-hand information influences the evolution of expressive relations. It also underscores the need to refine and extend current theorizing concerning the multiple (and potentially competing) psychological mechanisms causing some of the observed effects.
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Jalil D, Xu X, Jiang L, Wang HJ. Do not ask, but you shall still receive: Newcomer reactions to receiving negative gossip. Stress Health 2022; 38:989-1000. [PMID: 35405031 DOI: 10.1002/smi.3150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2021] [Revised: 03/14/2022] [Accepted: 04/04/2022] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
As research regarding the targets and initiators of workplace gossip is gaining traction, one perspective that remains overlooked is the gossip receiver. Organizational newcomers are a particularly relevant population to study the impact of receiving negative gossip on because they use social information to navigate an unfamiliar organizational terrain. We propose a parallel moderated mediation model in which receiving negative gossip has contradicting effects on newcomer job anxiety through perceived social inclusion and negative rumination, and agreeableness as a boundary condition of the effects of receiving negative gossip. We collected data from 202 newcomers using a four-wave time-lagged design and found that receiving negative gossip increased newcomer job anxiety via negative rumination but did not decrease job anxiety via perceived social inclusion. Further, agreeableness moderated the effect of receiving negative gossip on negative rumination (but not perceived social inclusion) such that the effect of receiving negative gossip on negative rumination was stronger for less agreeable newcomers. Lastly, the indirect effect of receiving negative gossip on job anxiety via negative rumination was stronger for less agreeable newcomers. Theoretical and practical implications specific to gossip and newcomers are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daroon Jalil
- Department of Psychology, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, USA
| | - Xiaohong Xu
- Department of Management, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, USA
| | - Lixin Jiang
- School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Hai-Jiang Wang
- School of Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
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Estévez JL, Takács K. Brokering or Sitting Between Two Chairs? A Group Perspective on Workplace Gossip. Front Psychol 2022; 13:815383. [PMID: 35898991 PMCID: PMC9309222 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.815383] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2021] [Accepted: 05/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Brokerage is a central concept in the organization literature. It has been argued that individuals in broker positions—i.e., connecting otherwise disconnected parts within a firm’s social network—can control the flow of information. It would imply their increased relevance in workplace gossip. This allegation, however, has not been addressed empirically yet. To fill this gap, we apply social network analysis techniques to relational data from six organizations in Hungary. First, we identify informal groups and individuals in broker positions. Then, we use this information to predict the likelihood with which positive or negative gossip is reported. We find more gossip when the sender and receiver are part of the same group and more positive gossip about in-group rather than out-group targets. Individuals in broker positions are more likely the senders and targets of negative gossip. Finally, even if both the brokers and the boss(es) are the targets of their colleagues’ negative gossip, the combination of the two categories (bosses in broker positions) does not predict more negative gossip anymore. Results are discussed in relation to the theoretical accounts on brokerage that emphasize its power for information control but fail to recognize the pitfalls of being in such positions.
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Affiliation(s)
- José Luis Estévez
- Department of Management and Engineering, The Institute for Analytical Sociology, Linköping University, Norrköping, Sweden
- Department for the Study of Religions, Centre for the Digital Research of Religion, Masaryk University, Brno, Czechia
| | - Károly Takács
- Department of Management and Engineering, The Institute for Analytical Sociology, Linköping University, Norrköping, Sweden
- Computational Social Science – Research Center for Educational and Network Studies (CSS-RECENS), Centre for Social Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
- *Correspondence: Károly Takács,
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Redelmeier DA, Etchells EE, Najeeb U. Principles and Practice of Gossiping About Colleagues in Medicine. J Hosp Med 2021; 16:763-766. [PMID: 34798004 DOI: 10.12788/jhm.3702] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2021] [Accepted: 08/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Donald A Redelmeier
- Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Evaluative Clinical Sciences, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Division of General Internal Medicine, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Centre for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Edward E Etchells
- Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Division of General Internal Medicine, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Centre for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Umberin Najeeb
- Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Division of General Internal Medicine, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Romano A, Saral AS, Wu J. Direct and indirect reciprocity among individuals and groups. Curr Opin Psychol 2021; 43:254-259. [PMID: 34481332 DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.08.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2021] [Revised: 08/02/2021] [Accepted: 08/04/2021] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Direct and indirect reciprocity are two fundamental mechanisms that promote prosocial behavior within groups and across societies. Here, we review recent work that illustrates how a (direct and indirect) reciprocity framework can illuminate our understanding of several factors related to prosocial behavior - namely group membership, gossip, and third-party punishment. We propose that each of these factors can promote prosocial behavior via proximate psychological mechanisms related to direct and indirect reciprocity: reputational concern, expectations, and anticipation of future interaction. Finally, we discuss the implications of adopting such a framework and highlight a number of avenues for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angelo Romano
- Social, Economic and Organizational Psychology, Leiden University, the Netherlands.
| | | | - Junhui Wu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
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Zong B, Xu S, Zhang L, Qu J. Dealing With Negative Workplace Gossip: From the Perspective of Face. Front Psychol 2021; 12:629376. [PMID: 34149515 PMCID: PMC8209327 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.629376] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2020] [Accepted: 05/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
In this study, we investigate the coping response of individuals who are being gossiped about. Drawing on face research and affective events theory, we propose that employees who are targets of negative gossip will actively respond to the gossip about them via engagement in negative gossip themselves. The findings showed that negative workplace gossip stimulated fear of losing face and led to subsequent behavioral responses, namely, engaging in negative gossip. Moreover, self-monitoring, as a moderating mechanism, mitigated the negative impacts of negative workplace gossip on the targets. We discuss theoretical implications for gossip research and note its important practical implications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Boqiang Zong
- Department of Human Resource Management, School of Labor and Human Resources, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
| | - Shiyong Xu
- Center for Human Resource Development and Assessment, School of Labor and Human Resources, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
| | - Lihua Zhang
- Department of Human Resource Management, School of Labor and Human Resources, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
| | - Jinzhao Qu
- Department of Human Resource Management, School of Labor and Human Resources, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
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Abstract
The omnipresence of workplace gossip makes understanding gossip processes imperative to understand social life in organizations. Although gossip research has recently increased across the social sciences, gossip is conceptualized in disparate ways in the scientific literature. This conceptual confusion impedes theoretical integration and providing practical advice. To resolve this, we systematically reviewed 6114 scientific articles on gossip and identified 324 articles that define gossip. From these definitions, we extracted two essential characteristics of gossip on which there seems to be agreement within the literature, namely, (1) that gossip is communication between humans involving a sender, a receiver, and a target, and (2) that the target is absent or unaware of the communicated content. These two characteristics formed the basis of a broad, integrative definition of gossip: a sender communicating to a receiver about a target who is absent or unaware of the content. Furthermore, some definitions include characteristics on which there is less agreement: gossip valence (from negative to neutral to positive) and formality (from informal to intermediate to formal). We incorporate these characteristics in a dimensional scaling framework that can guide future research. Our broad, integrative definition of gossip and the dimensional scaling framework provide the building blocks for a systematic, integrated knowledge base on the role of gossip in human social life in general as well as in organizations. This can foster future theory development and hypothesis testing, ultimately helping organizations to manage gossip.
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Sultan S, Parodi J, Acharya Y, Hynes N. Why Are Medical Device Multinationals Choking Disruptive Technology and Killing Innovation? Challenges to Innovation in Medical Device Technology. J Endovasc Ther 2021; 28:367-372. [PMID: 33511910 DOI: 10.1177/1526602821989356] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Sherif Sultan
- Department of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Western Vascular Institute, University Hospital Galway, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland.,Department of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Surgery, Galway Clinic, Affiliated Hospital of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and the National University of Ireland, Doughiska Galway, Ireland
| | - Juan Parodi
- Department of Vascular Surgery and Biomedical Engineering Department, Alma Mater, University of Buenos Aires, and Trinidad Hospital, San Isidro, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA.,Washington University in St Louis, St Louis, MO, USA
| | - Yogesh Acharya
- Department of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Western Vascular Institute, University Hospital Galway, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland.,Department of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Surgery, Galway Clinic, Affiliated Hospital of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and the National University of Ireland, Doughiska Galway, Ireland
| | - Niamh Hynes
- Department of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Surgery, Galway Clinic, Affiliated Hospital of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and the National University of Ireland, Doughiska Galway, Ireland
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Dores Cruz TD, Balliet D, Sleebos E, Beersma B, Van Kleef GA, Gallucci M. Getting a Grip on the Grapevine: Extension and Factor Structure of the Motives to Gossip Questionnaire. Front Psychol 2019; 10:1190. [PMID: 31178801 PMCID: PMC6543765 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2019] [Accepted: 05/06/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Gossip is condemned but also ubiquitous and thought to be essential for groups. This triggers the question of which motives explain gossip behavior. Hitherto, negative influence, social enjoyment, group protection, and information gathering and validation are established as motives to gossip. However, venting emotions-discussed as a potentially important motive-has been overlooked empirically. Furthermore, a lack of consensus about a definition of gossip may have affected previous conclusions about gossip motives. This study (N = 460) expands the Motives to Gossip Questionnaire (MGQ; Beersma and Van Kleef, 2012) by including a subscale measuring emotion venting, the desire to share emotionally evocative experiences. To validate the five motives to gossip across definitions, we asked participants to report the most recent gossip event they experienced, randomly assigning them to one of three instructions containing different gossip definitions commonly used in the literature: (1) broad instructions (sharing information about third parties who have no knowledge of the exchanged information), (2) narrower instructions (adding that the shared information must be evaluative), and (3) instructions using the word gossip. After participants recalled and described a gossip event, they completed the 25-item measure of five motives to gossip: social enjoyment, information gathering and validation, negative influence, group protection, and emotion venting. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the five-factor structure. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis supported full invariance across the three definition conditions. This indicates the Motives to Gossip Questionnaire successfully measures the five dimensions argued to motivate gossip and can be applied in research conceptualizing gossip both narrowly and broadly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Terence D. Dores Cruz
- Department of Organization Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Daniel Balliet
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Ed Sleebos
- Department of Organization Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Bianca Beersma
- Department of Organization Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Gerben A. Van Kleef
- Department of Social Psychology, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
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