Celebrity gossip actually helps us in myriad
ways
Fear of whispers keeps us in check
On the flip side, the awareness that others are likely talking about us can
keep us in line.
Among a group of friends or coworkers, the threat of becoming the
target of gossip can actually be a positive force: it can deter “free-riders”
and cheaters who might be tempted slack off or take advantage of others.
Biologist Robert Trivers has discussed the evolutionary importance of
detecting gross cheaters (those who fail to reciprocate altruistic acts) and
subtle cheaters (those who reciprocate but give much less than they get).
Gossip can actually shame these free riders, reining them in.
Studies of California cattle ranchers, Maine lobster fishers and college rowing teams confirm that gossip is used in a variety of settings to
hold individuals accountable. In each of these groups, individuals who
violated expectations about sharing resources or meeting responsibilities
became targets of gossip and ostracism. This, in turn, pressured them to
become better members of the group.
For example, lobstermen who didn’t respect well-established group
norms about when and how lobsters could be harvested were quickly exposed by their colleagues. Their fellow lobstermen temporarily shunned
them and, for a while, refused to work with them.
Belgian psychologist Charlotte de Backer makes a
distinction between strategy learning gossip and
reputation gossip.
When gossip is about a particular individual, we’re
usually interested in it only if we know that person. However, some gossip is interesting no matter
whom it’s about. This sort of gossip can involve
stories about life-or-death situations or remarkable
feats. We pay attention to them because we may
be able to learn strategies that we can apply to our
own lives.
Indeed, de Backer discovered that our interest in
celebrities may feed off of this thirst for learning
life strategies. For better or for worse, we look
to celebrities in the same way that our ancestors
looked to role models within their tribes for guidance.
At its core, our fixation on celebrities is reflective
of an innate interest in the lives of other people.
From an evolutionary standpoint, “celebrity”
is a recent phenomenon, due primarily to the
explosion of mass media in the 20th century.
Our ancestors, on the other hand, found social
importance in the intimate details of everyone’s
private life, since everyone in their small social
world mattered.
But anthropologist Jerome Barkow has pointed
out that evolution did not prepare us to distinguish among those members of our community
who have a genuine effect on us, and those who exist in the images,
movies and songs that suffuse our daily lives.
From TMZ to US Weekly, the media fuels gossip mills that mimic those
of our workplaces and friend groups. In a way, our brains are tricked
into feeling an intense familiarity with these famous people – which
hoodwinks us into wanting to know even more about them. After all,
anyone whom we see that often and know that much about must be
socially important to us.
Because of the familiarity we feel with celebrities, they can serve an
important social function: they may be the only “friends” we have in
common with new neighbors and coworkers. They’re shared cultural
touchstones that facilitate the types of informal interactions that help
people become comfortable in new surroundings. Keeping up with the
lives of actors, politicians and athletes can make a person more socially
adept during interactions with strangers and even offer inroads into new
relationships.
The bottom line is that we need to rethink the role of gossip in everyday
life; there’s no need to shy away from it or to be ashamed of it.
Successful gossiping entails being a good team player and sharing key
information with others in ways that won’t be perceived as self-serving.
It’s about knowing when it’s appropriate to talk, and when it’s probably
best to keep your mouth shut.