Can You Keep a Secret?
By Rebeca Funes
Gossiping is the process of talking about another’s private life, personal matters, or secrets. Many people gossip every day, whether that be chatting with a friend about a rumor they overheard or ranting about something that happened earlier that day, but why do people gossip? Science suggests that the brain is wired to and loves to do so.
On average, people spend around 52 minutes of their day gossiping, according to Concierge Medicine Today, with around 75% of it being neutral. Gossip often dominates conversations between people, showing it as a way to socialize and build human relationships. While humans thrive in social environments, gossiping did way more than just establish a bond with others for our ancestors.
“I think the enjoyment people get from gossiping actually stems from the fact that humans are social creatures. We want to understand each other and make sense of social situations. For example, sharing information about another person can help strengthen bonds between the two people gossiping, which is something humans strive for,” said junior Brisa Baez.
Early human civilizations were very collaborative, with everyone expected to reciprocate the effort and resources they were given. Those who exploited others and slacked off would be kicked out. Evolutionary researchers suggest that the main way people found out who broke these social rules and who fulfilled them would be through conversations, through gossip. Thus, gossiping became a vital part of society, crucial to the survival of the group.
Not only that, but gossiping also became a way to understand who is not trustworthy and who may be. In a study done in 2011, participants were shown half of a face paired with different types of gossip, like positive or negative gossip, with a random picture on the other half. This created something known as binocular rivalry, when the brain alternates between two images presented to each eye instead of merging them into one image.
This often causes the brain to focus on what it believes to be more important and completely suppresses the other image. In this study, researchers found that once participants saw these images again, they were more likely to fixate on the faces associated with negative gossip.
“Even when primitive humans lived in small groups, they needed to know things like who might be a threat and who was after a particular mate. And learning those things through personal experience would have been slow and potentially dangerous,” stated Frank McAndrew, a professor of psychology at Knox College in Galesburg.
Gossiping is not just leftovers from evolution. Every time you gossip, it lights up the reward systems in your brain, specifically the caudate nucleus. The caudate nucleus is a C-shaped structure deep in the brain that plays a key role in goal-driven behaviors, learning, and emotion.
In a study done in 2015, researchers viewed brain imaging scans of participants when hearing positive and negative gossip about themselves, friends, and celebrities. Through this, researchers found that the caudate nucleus of the participants lit up when they heard negative gossip about celebrities as they found it entertaining or amusing. The researchers also polled the participants on how they felt after hearing the different types of gossip.
This structure also keeps track of what behaviors led to what rewards and the magnitude of these rewards, such as the brain’s release of dopamine or oxytocin. Dopamine and oxytocin are a neurotransmitter and a hormone, but dopamine is responsible for the brain’s reinforcement of pleasurable behaviors and motivation, while oxytocin is responsible for socialization and emotional bonding.
Gossiping causes both these hormones to be released, helping foster human connection through trust-building and creating a sense of excitement for the brain. For example, hearing the words, “Guess what I just found out,” can signal to the brain that valuable information is incoming. This releases dopamine and creates a sense of anticipation, making gossip so addicting. Oxytocin also surges in gossiping, signaling deep trust and creating a sense of bonding.
“I definitely think people gossip a lot, especially in school where everyone knows each other. I hear it every day, and I myself gossip nearly every time I’m with my friends. I think it’s a pretty normal part of social life,” stated senior at Barbara Goleman Senior High, Ashley Cortez.
Today, gossiping is an everyday norm, with many hearing it in schools or with family. For decades, gossiping has been a tool used even by our early ancestors. From a tactic used for survival to releasing neurochemicals that foster human connection, the brain is wired to gossip and loves to do so.
