Men Participate In Negative Gossip About Others Just As Often As Women, Study Finds
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Of course, there was a lot of gossip leading up to they royal baby's birth. It seems like you can't really escape it, whether it be rumors about famous people or the person you sit next to at work.
By definition, gossip is just the act of talking about someone who isn't there. So not all gossip is malicious, but when it is, it doesn't discriminate.
"They always have this image of girls just like gossiping to each other about people," one woman said.
It's true. When you think of a town gossip character, you're probably not thinking of someone named Steve.
"I totally think that there is a stereotype that women do it more," another woman said.
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But gossip, especially the nasty kind, is an equal opportunity sport. According to a new study out of the University of California-Riverside, men participate in negative gossip about others just as frequently as women.
On average, that gossip takes up 52 minutes of a typical person's day.
"I think it's natural to talk about other people, gaming for status or something like that," one man said.
"I'm not sure what we would gossip about," said another.
According to researchers, the gossip that they found by recording their subjects was mostly neutral -- so not positive or negative. And it overwhelmingly involved acquaintances over celebrities.
"I think as we grow older, we become much more competitive and that makes us talk more about people," one woman said.
Actually, growing older, according to this study, may dampen a person's need to gossip negatively.
Researchers also found that a person's socioeconomic status made no difference in how often they gossip.
But, really, we all do it. The study pointed out to never ever speak about someone who isn't in the room -- that would just be weird.
