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Of Tabloids and Family Secrets: The Evolutionary Psychology of Gossip

Of Tabloids and Family Secrets: The Evolutionary Psychology of Gossip. By: Alex Reivitis Krystal Gamez Kyle Glassman. Introduction. Levin & Arluke (1987): Social learning & Social Comparison. Crawford (1998): enhances fitness.

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Of Tabloids and Family Secrets: The Evolutionary Psychology of Gossip

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  1. Of Tabloids and Family Secrets: The Evolutionary Psychology of Gossip By: Alex Reivitis Krystal Gamez Kyle Glassman

  2. Introduction • Levin & Arluke (1987): Social learning & Social Comparison. • Crawford (1998): enhances fitness. • Alexander et al. (1979): Helps us predict the. behaviors of others. • Trivers (1971): Detection of cheaters. • Boehm (1999): neutralizing dominance.

  3. Hypothesis #1 • Participants should express greater interest in gossip about others of the same gender and approximately the same age as themselves

  4. Hypothesis #2 • Participants should show greater interest in positive information about allies (e.g friends and relatives) than in positive information about non-allies.

  5. Hypothesis #3 • Participants should be more likely to spread positive information about allies and negative information about non-allies.

  6. Experiment 1 • Participants: 128, (61 male, 67 female). • Materials: • 12 articles about celebrities from tabloids in 1996. • Divided by age group of the celebrities. • Procedure: • Participants ranked each article based on their interest. • They disclosed their age, gender, and occupation.

  7. Celebrities Featured in Tabloids • Under age 35 • Robert Downey, Jr. • John F. Kennedy, Jr. • Courtney Cox • Oksana Baiul • Ages 36-55 • Don Johnson • Kelsey Grammar • Christie Brinkley • Jamie Lee Curtis • Over age 56 • Frank Sinatra • The Frugal Gourmet • Barbara Walters • Jane Wyman

  8. Experiment 1: Results • Most participants under the age of 30 selected tabloids about celebrities under the age of 36. • Most participants who were over the age of 30 showed the opposite pattern. • Individuals tended to be more interested in celebrities their own age and gender. • John F. Kennedy Jr. (exception to rule). • Results support the hypothesis #1.

  9. Experiment 2 • Participants: 83, (39 males, 44 females). • Materials: • 12 hypothetical gossip scenarios. • Themes of the scenarios included: promiscuity, drug abuse, sexual infidelity, drunken behavior, etc. • Procedure: • Participants read each scenario and answered two questions: • 1. how likely he/she would be to seek more information about situation. • 2. how likely he/she would be to pass along the information.

  10. Experiment 2: Results • Positive information about non-allies was not considered interesting. • Positive information about allies was spread quickly. • Girls were significantly more interested in the happenings of celebrity girls (gender differences). • People found information about their “friends” most interesting.

  11. Discussion • People actively seek information about others that will be most useful in social competition. • We seek exploitable information about people of high status and non-allies. • Evolution is not the only explanation. • Need more research to determine evolutionary influence.

  12. Critical Review • Cons • Sample size (small) • Self-Report, • No causation. • Evolutionary adaptations are difficult to scientifically prove. • Pros. • All three hypotheses were supported by findings. • Sex differences in terms of what tabloids were considered “interesting”. • The JFK exception.

  13. Who do you find yourself Gossiping about?

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