Running head: GOSSIP ADDICTION Gossip as an Addiction

Gossip Addiction

Running head: GOSSIP ADDICTION

Gossip as an Addiction

Katherine Perna

Immaculata University

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Gossip Addiction

Abstract

Addiction is defined as a primary, chronic disease of

brain reward, motivation, memory, and related circuitry.

Addiction is characterized by an inability to abstain,

impairment in behavioral control, diminished recognition of

significant problems with one’s behaviors and interpersonal

relationships, cravings, and a dysfunctional emotional

response. The aim of this study is to consider looking at

gossiping as a category for behavioral addiction. This study

will examine if gossiping has patterns similar to the

criterion for substance use disorder and other behavioral

addictions to determine if it could be portrayed as an

addiction as well. The method for this study was a self-

administered questionnaire given to 50 participants over one

month to gain insight on how gossip may affect their

personal lives. The findings suggest that gossip may have

some patterns similar to other types of behavioral

addictions. However there are still limitations to these

findings. Future research needs to be conducted to have a

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Gossip Addiction

better understanding if gossip could be considered an

addiction.

Introduction

According to the American Society of Addiction

Medicine, addiction is defined as “a primary, chronic

disease of brain reward, motivation, memory, and related

circuitry. Addiction is characterized by an inability to

abstain, impairment in behavioral control, diminished

recognition of significant problems with one’s behaviors and

interpersonal relationships, cravings, and a dysfunctional

emotional response” (ASAM, 2011).

Smith (2012) described how the disease of addiction

disrupts the areas of the brain responsible for controlling

cognitive, emotional, and social behaviors. Many parts of

the brain work together to maintain homeostasis (p.2). There

are three parts of the human brain that are related to drug

cravings. One is the brain stem, which controls one’s

arousal states and the drive for basic needs. The second is

the limbic system, which works with the brainstem in

emotional regulation and development. The third is the

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Gossip Addiction

cortex, which provides decision-making and impulse control

capabilities (Siegel, 2010).

Smith (2012) described how the DSM-V expanded the

addiction definition to addictions and related disorders to

illustrate both psychoactive drugs and certain behaviors

that produce a surge of dopamine in the midbrain are the

biological substrate for addictive behavior. The American

Psychiatric Association (2013), includes gambling disorder,

reflecting evidence that gambling behaviors activate reward

systems similar to those activated by drugs of abuse and

produce some behavioral symptoms that appear comparable to

those produced by the substance use disorders (p.481). DSM-V

also mentions internet, sex, exercise, and shopping as

possible behavioral addiction. However, there is not enough

research to establish the diagnostic criteria and course

descriptions needed to identify these behaviors as mental

disorders. One behavior that was not mentioned in the DSM,

but may potentially be viewed, as an addiction is gossip.

Grant, Odlaug, & Schreiber (2013), assumed one common

neurobiological dysfunction may give rise to multiple

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Gossip Addiction

behavioural symptoms. Many people switch from one behavior

to another, suggesting a similar pathology underlying

several disorders (p.256).

Gossip has been broadly defined as conversation about

social and personal topics and it has been argued that it is

the central player in the evolutionary story of human

intelligence and social life (Baumeister, 2005; Dunbar,

2004; Foster, 2004). Foster noted that gossip refers to talk

in an evaluative way (positive or negative) about absent

third parties. Gossiping about others may lead to

stereotyping. Semin & Smith (2007) defined stereotypes as a

perceiver’s beliefs about the general characteristics of a

social group (p.132). Stereotypes can be interpreted as

either positive or negative, depending on the situation. If

an individual praises a social perceiver, features of the

positive stereotype are automatically activated, while the

negative stereotype is suppressed. However, if that person

criticizes the perceiver, it will trigger activation of the

negative stereotype rather than the positive one (Kunda &

Sinclair, 1999). These stereotypes can be observed in gossip

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Gossip Addiction

conversations depending on how the person sharing the

information interprets it.

In general, gossip is a behavior that appears to be a widely

spread phenomenon and almost inevitable when two or more

people meet (Hartung & Renner, 2013).

Gossip is not just linked to immediate social groups,

but can also be found in public forums, such as the

internet, television, newspaper, and magazines. Guerin &

Miyazaki (2006) suggested the reason people gossip about

celebrities is because it has no immediate impact on their

lives and is not anxiety producing to them. Even to someone

with no interest in the lives of celebrities, telling a

scandalous story about them can engage the listener.

Gossiping about others can grow if they are told to a wide

range of listeners, if there are few consequences for

telling the story, and if there is little monitoring of

their truth so they can be embellished (p.29). Semin & Smith

(2007) mentioned the interdependence between communicator

and recipient influenced not only the message communicators

presented but also their private beliefs. Communicators

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Gossip Addiction

distort their messages to make them consistent with their

audiences’ attitudes (p.134). These distortions may be

illustrated in social media to grab the observer’s

attention.

People often explain their involvement in gossip with

the immediacy of entertainment and pleasure (Litman & Pezzo,

2005; Ben-Ze’ev, 1994). Smith (2012) mentioned how the mid-

brain uses reward, which is a sense of pleasure to promote

life-fulfilling behaviors, such as eating and drinking.

Addiction occurs by disregulation of this process, such that

the drive and craving focus on drugs or certain behaviors

rather than natural life sustaining process (p.2). According

to Grant, Odlaug, & Schreiber (2013), a crucial feature of

behavioral addiction is the failure to resist an impulse,

temptation, or drive to perform an act that is harmful to

the person or to others (p.252). Gossiping is a behavior

that brings about a sense of pleasure; however, gossiping

negatively about others could lead to harmful consequences

for the gossiper or gossipee.

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Gossip Addiction

According to Ashley, Dickson, & Sun (2013),” addiction

is a pattern of behavioral, physiological, and cognitive

symptoms that develop due to substance use characterized by

tolerance to the effects of the substance; withdrawal

symptoms that develop when use of the substance is

terminated; and continued use of the substance despite

adverse consequences” (p. 107). Withdrawal can be observed

as a reduction in the use of a substance, significant

distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other

important areas of functioning, symptoms are not

attributable to another medical condition and are not better

explained by another mental disorder, the substance involved

cannot be classified under any of the other substance

categories. There are also 4 criterions to consider if there

is a diagnosis of a substance use disorder. The criterions

are impaired control, social impairment, risky use, and

pharmacological criteria (DSM-V). The aim of this study is

to consider looking at gossiping as a category for

behavioral addiction. This study will examine if gossiping

has patterns similar to the criterion for substance use

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Gossip Addiction

disorder and other behavioral addictions to determine if it

could be portrayed as an addiction as well.

Methods

Participants:

There were 50 participants in this study ranging from

13-60 years of age. The researcher created a 16 question

online survey and posted it on a social networking site.

Most of the individuals lived in Pennsylvania. However there

were some individuals from other parts of the country,

ranging from Delaware, Maine, North Carolina, New York,

Washington, and Wisconsin. There were a few participants

outside of the United States as well. Participants included

35 females, 14 males, and 1 who chose not to disclose the

gender. All participants were anonymous in this study and

were volunteers. The survey was live for one month before

the researcher gathered results.

Materials:

Participants were invited to fill out an individual

self-administered questionnaire online to gain insight on

how gossip may affect their personal lives. Informed consent

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Gossip Addiction

was provided for each participant at the beginning of the

survey. The informed consent included information about

procedures, anonymity, and the length of the survey. The

survey included 16 questions. There was a combination of

open-ended and closed-ended questions.

Design and Procedure:

The design of this study was a survey (see table 1).

Each participant voluntarily filled out a self-administered

questionnaire online. The questionnaire was used to assess

if the individuals responses showed any patterns similar to

substance use disorder and behavioral addictions. At the

beginning of the survey, the researcher described the survey

as anonymous. The researcher collected the totals of the

participant’s responses with no personal identifying

information. In order to provide statistically meaningful

responses, all questions needed to be complete. It was

estimated to take about five to ten minutes to complete. The

participants were thanked for their participation and then

filled out the questionnaire. Once the survey was

completed, each participant clicked the “submit” button, so

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Gossip Addiction

the researcher could collect the data. The survey was

conducted for a one-month duration (3/2/14-4/2/14). After a

month, the research collected all the data.

Table 1. Survey questionnaireGossip Survey

Thank you for taking the time to fill out this brief survey. This is an anonymous survey. This survey will collect the totals of user responses with no personally identifying information. It will take about five to ten minutes to complete. In order to provide statistically meaningful responses, all questions must be completed. Once again, thanks in advance for your contribution.

1. How old are you?

2. What is your gender?

3. What state do you live in? 

4. Have you ever gossiped about another person? If yes, do you find that youcontinue to gossip about that person?

5. What do you generally focus on when you gossip about another person (i.e.: their looks, their lifestyle, other)?

 6. Is the person you are talking about usually a man or a woman?

7. How do you feel when you initially start gossiping about another person?

8. How do you feel after you have gossiped about someone?

9. Have you felt regret after gossiping about someone?

10. If you felt regret about gossiping, how long did that particular situation bother you?

11. Do you find yourself thinking about something negative you have said before going to sleep or upon waking up?

12. Have you ever lost contact with a friend or loved one because of something you said about that particular person?

13. Has gossip ever affected you at your job?

14. Have you ever found yourself running out of things to say with another person, so you start talking negatively about someone else to find a connection/ common ground?

15. Have you ever been confronted about a negative comment you made?

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16. How often do you read magazines, articles, or blog about celebrity gossip?

Submit

Results

The results showed that out of the 50 participants only

1 individual reported never gossiping. 41 responded “yes,”

to continue use of gossiping, whereas only 9 reported, “no.”

This shows the majority of individuals continued to gossip.

The topics of conversation ranged from attitude, behavior,

choices, habits, job performance, lifestyle, looks,

relationship, small talk, or other. Out of all the

participants, 24 choose lifestyle as the focus, 9 behavior,

6 attitude, 2 choices, 2 looks, 2 relationship, 2 other, 1

habits, 1 job performance, and 1 small talk. 47% of

individuals gossiped about women, 37% gossiped about both

men and women, and 16% gossiped about men. This shows the

majority of participants have a tendency to talk about women

more often than men.

Participants initial feelings when gossiping varied.

38% felt content, 17% bad, 15% angry, 8% annoyed, 8%

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Gossip Addiction

cautious, 6% interested, 4% excited, and 4% relief.

Participant’s feelings after they gossiped also varied. 32%

felt bad, 20% guilty, 20% content, 10% relief, 8% annoyed,

4% sad, 2 % angry, 2% regret, 2% depends. This shows the

majority of participants initially felt a positive emotion

of being “content” toward gossiping; whereas the majority of

participants post feeling was “bad.” The survey asked if

participants felt regret after gossiping. 6% of the

participants did not feel regret, whereas 43% did feel

regret. The duration of the feeling of regret varied. This

is an important finding because it shows the initial use of

gossiping is a positive feeling, similar to substance use

and other addictive behaviors, whereas once the individual’s

withdrawals from the use of gossiping, they feel negative

about their behavior.

The next question asked participants if they think

about something negative they have said before going to

sleep or upon waking up. 40% reported “no,” whereas 60%

reported “yes.” The following question asked participants if

they ever lost contact with a friend or loved one because of

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Gossip Addiction

something they said about that particular person. 68%

reported, “no,” 26% reported, “yes,” and 6% did not know.

Next the survey asked if gossip ever affected participants

at their job. 56% reported, “no,” and 44% reported, “yes.”

The survey also asked if participants ever found

themselves running out of things to say with another person,

so they talk negatively about someone else to find a

connection. 46% of participants reported, “no,” whereas 54%

reported, “yes.” Out of all the participants 58% found

themselves being confronted about gossiping whereas 42% have

not been confronted. The last question asked how often do

participants read magazines, articles, or blog about

celebrity gossip. Out of all the participants 14% documented

never, 46% seldom, 26% sometimes, 14% often. This shows that

most individuals do not read gossip articles.

Discussion

The main goal of this study was to consider looking at

gossiping as a category for behavioral addiction. The

results showed the majority of individuals continued to

gossip, even if they felt negative about their behavior.

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Gossip Addiction

This is similar to what Ashley, Dickson, & Sun (2013), said

about continued use of the substance despite adverse

consequences (p.107).

The findings indicated the majority of individuals

gossiped about other individual’s lifestyle. The results

illustrated the difference between the initial and post

feelings participants had in regards to gossiping. Initially

participants felt “content,” whereas after gossiping the

majority of participants felt “bad.” The majority of

participants also reported they felt regret after gossiping.

These are important findings because it shows the initial

use of gossiping is a positive feeling, similar to substance

use and other addictive behaviors, whereas once the

individual’s withdrawal from the use of gossiping, they feel

negative.

The findings also showed the majority of participants

found themselves thinking about something negative they have

said when going to bed or waking up. Over half the

participants found themselves gossiping with another

individual when they could not find anything else to talk

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about. Most individuals reported they rarely read gossip

articles. These findings are interesting because Miyazaki

(2006) mentioned the reason people gossip about celebrities

is because it has no immediate impact on their lives and is

not anxiety producing to them. However, the findings showed

that more people gossip about people they know rather than

celebrities. This is somewhat similar to the DSM-V (2013)

criteria for risky use, which is when an individual

continues use despite knowledge of having a recurrent

physical or psychological problem that is likely to be

caused by the substance (p.483). Some individuals showed

psychological issues by having the negative thoughts on

their minds right before going to sleep and when waking up.

Even though the individuals feel negative after the use of

gossiping, they still continue.

The majority of participants did not lose any

relationships because of gossiping. However there was a

small portion of participants that did loose contact with a

friend or a loved one. The majority of participants reported

that they have been confronted about gossiping. The majority

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also reported they have been affected by gossiping at their

job. This correlates with the DSM-V (2013) criteria for

social impairment. Social impairment is when an individual

may continue use despite having recurrent interpersonal

problems caused or exacerbated by the effects of the

substance. Important social occupational, or recreational

activities may be given up or reduced because of substance

use (p.483). The findings suggest some comparison to

gossiping as a behavioral addiction, however there were

several limitations to this study as well.

One limitation was that there was a small sample

population over a short period of time. Some of the

questions on the survey were vague, which may have affected

some of the participant’s responses. The survey was self-

reported, which could have led to bias responses. Self-

report studies on gossip may stem from underreporting due to

participants awareness that gossip is an undesirable mode of

behavior (Hartung &Renner, 2013). Also, there is little to

no research in regards to classifying gossip as an

addiction. Even though there are several limitations, these

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findings can help researchers gain new awareness into gossip

as a potential addiction.

Conclusion:

In order to gain a complete assessment of gossiping as

an addiction, future research needs to be examined. Future

studies could formulate a more comprehensive survey, with a

larger sample population extended over a greater amount of

time. This would ensure stronger reliability to determine if

gossip could be observed as an addictive behavior. Also,

when formulating future surveys, a drop down box could be

used to standardize responses for easier analysis.  The

researcher could add "Other" with room for respondent to add

a different response. Future studies could also examine the

neurological aspect of brain activities to determine if

gossiping has similar patterns of other behavioral and

substance addictions. If gossip is looked at as an

addiction or even if people want to decrease this behavior,

future research could incorporate treatment that is already

used for individuals with addictions, such as cognitive

behavioral therapy, and determine if it is effective.

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