Gossip Can Be Good for Us

A pair of researchers decided to look at the effects of gossip on the gossiper and found that the more people talk about others, the more social support they feel. And those who say positive things about another person report feeling greater self-esteem than those who talk about someone negatively. Which means, social psychologist Jennifer Cole, who worked on the study, notes:

some forms of gossiping—particularly of the type where people praise others—could be linked with some desirable outcomes for the gossiper despite the fact that gossipers are not generally approved of.