From gossiping to high-quality research for decision-making
What do the Salem Witch Trials, the volatility of the S&P 500 index, the accusation of Richard Jewell for the 1996 Olympics bombing, and the sudden migration of people from Nigeria to Canada in 2018 all have in common? Gossip!
In each of these situations, gossip—what we tell others about someone or something (even if it is not always true)—motivated outrageous actions: targeting and executing women, frantically buying and selling stocks, accusing an innocent hero of committing a crime, and scamming families by putting their savings and security at risk.
These are just a few examples of how gossip can influence our decisions. Sometimes, this can be innocent—just ask your chatty next-door neighbor, who likes to keep everyone updated on the latest news on the block. But other times, the consequences are detrimental. This is why it is crucial to gather and generate high-quality gossip that enhances the accuracy of information and guides us in making better decisions rather than leading to poor ones.
But how can we achieve high-quality gossip? Turns out, qualitative research might just be the solution we’re looking for.
References
- Dunbar, R. I. M. (2004). Gossip in Evolutionary Perspective. Review of General Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.8.2.100
- Foster, E. K. (2004). Research on Gossip: Taxonomy, Methods, and Future Directions. Review of General Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.8.2.78
- Baumeister, R. F., Zhang, L., & Vohs, K. D. (2004). Gossip as Cultural Learning. Review of General Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.8.2.111
- Dores Cruz, T. D., Thielmann, I., Columbus, S., Molho, C., Wu, J., Righetti, F., De Vries, R., Koutsoumpis, A., Van Lange, P. a. M., Beersma, B., & Balliet, D. (2021). Gossip and reputation in everyday life. Philosophical Transactions - Royal Society. Biological Sciences, 376(1838). https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0301
- Beersma, B., & Van Kleef, G. A. (2012). Why people gossip: An empirical analysis of social motives, antecedents, and consequences. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 42(11), 2640–2670. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2012.00956.x
- Robbins, M. L., & Karan, A. (2020). Who Gossips and How in Everyday Life? Social Psychological and Personality Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550619837000
- Gottfried, S. (2019, September 25). The Science Behind Why People Gossip—And When It can be a good thing. TIME. https://time.com/5680457/why-do-people-gossip/
- McAndrew, F.T. (2008) The Science of Gossip: Why We Can’t stop ourselves, Scientific American. Available at: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-science-of-gossip/
- Babbie, E. (2013). The practice of social research (13th ed.). International Edition. CENGAGE Learning.
- Flick, Uwe (2015). El diseño de la investigación cualitativa (Trad. T. del Amo and C. Blanco). Madrid: Morata (original book published in 2007)
- Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., & Saldaña, J. (2014). Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook (Third edition.). SAGE Publications, Inc.
- Bryman, A. (2012) Social Research Methods. 4th Edition, OUP Oxford, Oxford.
- Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research design (5th ed.). SAGE Publications.
About the Author
Itzel Cabrero Iriberri
Itzel specializes in research methods for social science and qualitative methodology. She has a strong passion for fostering effective and well-being-oriented learning environments, and she has a special interest in bringing behavioral science into Latin America. Itzel has conducted research on educational policy for the Mexican government and a public research center. She holds a Master's degree in Public Policy from the Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE) and a Bachelor's degree in Administration from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM).
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