Gossip is good for us, research shows

Here's something to talk about at the water cooler -- a new study says gossiping is actually good for us.

Researchers from Stanford University and University of California–Berkeley suggest that gossiping is a tool which allows society to ostracize those who behave poorly, which in turn encourages the ostracized to clean up their act.

"Groups that allow their members to gossip sustain cooperation and deter selfishness better than those that don't," says researcher Matthew Feinberg. "And groups do even better if they can gossip and ostracize untrustworthy members. While both of these behaviours can be misused, our findings suggest that they also serve very important functions for groups and society."

The experiment involved 216 participants who were divided into groups. Participants were told that they had to make cooperative financial decisions that would benefit everyone -- but left room for some to deviate and keep money for themselves, instead. The purpose of the experiment was to see if anyone would free-ride off the work of others.

Next, participants were given time to gossip about their group and pass on information to the other groups about members who had acted in their own interests rather than supporting the common good.

They found that the cheating participants who had been ostracized by the gossip felt shamed, and were more likely to reform their behaviour in order to be accepted back into the group.

When people who had been ostracized returned to the group, they often contributed at higher levels.

"Exclusion compelled them to conform to the more cooperative behaviour of the rest of the group," the researchers say.

They warn that highly anonymous groups, such as online forums, can breed antisocial behaviour because the participants lack accountability.