Article: The true colors of gossip

Gossip is widely thought to be negative and to reflect poorly upon the speaker. What is its role at work?

Kevin Kniffin, University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Letters and Science honorary associate fellow, and David Wilson, professor of Biological Sciences and director of the evolutionary studies program EvOS, State University of New York at Binghamton, write in Human Nature, a professional publication, that "gossip . . . include(s) positive and negative talk about commonly associated people."

They maintain that it creates value for both the individual and group, that it can reshape a person's behavior or prompt the rejection of it altogether.

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