Do you like gossip? It's actually good for your mental health, say the researchers

If you do it in the right way, there is no need to feel guilty for this habit.


Although the gossip is generally frowned upon, it is a guilty pleasure that many of us get involved from time to time. That you love Gab with your best friends about your partner Strange habits Or a dish on your colleagues, it is the human nature of wanting to discuss everything and everything.

Although gossip has a negative reputation, recent research shows that it can be healthy. Read the rest to discover a study that revealed that the overflow of tea can be good for your mental health - more, what type of gossip not beneficial at all.

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Researchers say gossip is not always a bad thing.

group of older people gossiping at a restaurant
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In a study published in the April 2021 issue of Current biology , Dartmouth researchers Created an online game In which players had to work together to achieve a goal. However, some players were kept in ignorance of the actions of other players, forcing them to speak to the remaining players of what was going on. "Our inspiration was to create a realistic scenario in which you are a member of a community and assigned by the actions of all the other members of the community, most of whom you rarely observe and you engage directly," said the co- study Eshin Jolly , Phd.

At the end of the game, Jolly and his co-author, Luke Chang , PHD, noted that the players who had to talk to the actions of other players felt more connected to each other. "By exchanging information with others, Ragots are a way of establishing relationships , "Chang explained in a Dartmouth newsletter." This implies confidence and facilitates a social bond which is strengthened as additional communication takes place. ""

Another study, published in the May 2019 issue of the journal Psychological science and social personality , noted that most often the gossips are A way to share information , rather than demolishing others. "Ragots tended to be neutral, rather than positive or negative, and on social information," wrote the authors of the study. According Study results , 85% of gossip is harmless, while only 15% are petty.

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Gossip can help us connect with others.

two women talking in a cafe
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If you've already felt closer to someone after sharing juicy potential, there is a reason, say the experts. "Gossip may look like a quick way to connect, especially since people may seem more committed to conversation than when we talk about the weather," Lauren Cook , MFT and F wave of Heartship psychological services , recount Better life . "We are social creatures, so we are naturally attracted to the words of other humans and our interactions with each other. Gossips can also give us the impression of having a high social status because we have the 'Impression of having precious information that others will find precious. " AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB

Ragots can also make you feel less alone, explains the psychiatrist Faisal Tai , Md. "The gossip helps to establish links between people, and in certain circumstances, informs people of things they did not know before," he explains to Better life . "Because it can make you less isolated and more connected, it seems that gossip has the potential to lift your mood and perhaps improve your mental health."

Ragots can help us become more empathetic.

holding hands
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Far from being harmful, gossip can be a tool that helps us discover the lives of others, and perhaps understand what it is to walk in their place, Jolly told Dartmouth Bulletin. "Ragots can be useful because it helps people learn through the experiences of others, while allowing them to get closer to each other in the process," he noted.

Kalley Hartman , Lmft to Ocean recovery , agrees. "Golds can give us the opportunity to practice empathy and understanding when we try to understand what others go through," she said. "This helps us to take a perspective on how another person can feel a certain situation, which in turn can help us be more compassionate about our own problems."

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Some types of gossip are harmful.

women fighting
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Of course, if the gossip in which you are committed to shooting others, it is not good for your mental health - and in fact, it is harmful for your own well -being. "When we chat for the good to cut others, it only has to make what we feel for ourselves," says Hartman. "In addition, when we are talking about others in front of our friends, it harms our friendships, as for a long time, our friends wonder:" What could they say about me? ""

Tai agrees with this feeling, saying: "When the gossip consists largely in consisting of negative shooters, this can make people feel guilty and ashamed by themselves. In addition , when family, friends and even colleagues intend to chat on someone, it can do they wonder what you may say about them . This can make the construction of relationships of trust harder or even impossible, and let the person chat more socially isolated, and therefore potentially more depressed and anxious . ""


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