City Gloss

The gossipmonger who generates it, often know little about who a victim and may experience feelings of revenge and, sometimes, for envy. What is surprising is that about this as human activity, there is an official position of Psychiatry or sociology in relation to what the gossip is. (A book, well written, although full of speculation, is: Grooming, Gossip and et Evolution of Language by r. Dunbar). Precisely with regard to the gossip, ojocientifico.com/2007/, a study published in Science magazine seems to be us reminds us covered mouth to everyone who they renegamos from gossip, to affirm that we pay more attention to rumors about people who get direct observation that we made of them, can be extracted from what that subconsciously pay you more attention to what we say about others than to what we think ourselves them.

The PhD student at the Max Planck Institute for evolutionary biology in the German town of Plon, Ralf Sommerfeld experimented with a group of students sitting in front of a laptop and separated by partitions of a table, so their decisions could not be spied. In the experiment were asked to each student that he chose another student without that second knew chosen, and will donate (fictitiously) a sum of money X. In successive rounds, participants changed their mate, but now received extra information about the new participant (such as what decisions had been taken in the game) and the judgments that other participants had done on it, as for example participant generous or miserable. Subsequently, scientists began to introduce gossip about each participant. Scientists revealed that when handed the data of other participants, along with statements concerning them such by other participants or by the same scientists posing as participants, students were significantly influenced by what others had said, ignoring their own initial assessments. This makes us to be alert to the rumors.