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|    Gossip influences who gets ahead in diff    |
|    11 Apr 23 22:30:22    |
      MSGID: 1:317/3 643633f1       PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08       TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08        Gossip influences who gets ahead in different cultures                Date:        April 11, 2023        Source:        Washington State University        Summary:        Gossip influences if people receive advantages whether they        work in an office in the U.S. or in India -- or even in a remote        village in Africa, a new study found. In a set of experiments,        anthropologists found that positive and negative gossip influenced        whether participants were willing to give a person a resource,        such as a raise or a family heirloom, especially when the gossip        was specific to the circumstance.                      Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIN Email       FULL STORY       ==========================================================================       Gossip influences if people receive advantages whether they work in an       office in the U.S. or in India -- or even in a remote village in Africa,       a Washington State University study found.                     ==========================================================================       In a set of experiments, WSU anthropologists found that positive and       negative gossip influenced whether participants were willing to give       a person a resource, such as a raise or a family heirloom, especially       when the gossip was specific to the circumstance. For instance, positive       gossip concerning job- related behavior, such as saying the person worked       well under pressure, increased the participants' willingness to give a       work-related benefit compared to gossip about family relationships.              The researchers ran the experiment with 120 online participants workers       in the U.S. and India, and after making some culturally appropriate       adjustments, with 160 Ngandu horticulturalists, who make a living from       small gardens in the Central African Republic. In all three groups,       they found similar results.              "Gossip seems context relevant. People don't just say random things," said       Nicole Hess, a WSU anthropologist and lead author on the study published       in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior. "Gossip that was relevant       to the exchange and the relationship had the most impact on whether       a person gave a resource, or not." Anthropologists consider gossip,       defined as exchanging reputational information about other community       members, to be a feature of almost every human society, but it is less       clear what function it serves. Some argue that talking about other       people this way helps enforce social norms or serves as social bonding       between the gossipers. This study lends evidence to yet another theory:       that gossip is used competitively because it shows a direct relationship       between gossip and the likelihood of receiving more resources.              "Up until this study, no one had even really asked 'what is the end       result of gossip?' Gossip makes a person's reputation worse or better, so       what is the result?" Hess said. "These findings support the competitive       evolutionary model: that people are using gossip to compete with each       other over valuable resources in their communities." For this study,       Hess and co-author Ed Hagen, also a WSU anthropologist, developed a set       of experiments that provided participants with job- or family- related       scenarios. For the office workers in the industrialized countries, the       scenarios described a situation where they could either give a raise to       one of their co-workers or an inherited painting to a family member.              They then were given a mix of gossip statements about how a theoretical       co- worker or relative behaved at work or dealt with their family. For       example, the work statement might be about whether the colleague was       willing to work late to finish a project, or on the family side, whether       they got along well with their siblings.              After reading a mix of these statements, the participants were asked       whether they were willing to give that fictional person the resource.              For the Ngandu farmers, the work scenario was adjusted to have them       evaluate a fictional worker they hired to help with their garden, and       whether they would share some shirts with the worker that a produce       buyer had given them. The family scenario involved deciding whether to       give a relative some nice clothes the participant had inherited.              Both surveys showed a similar pattern: participants were more willing to       give the resource when exposed to more positive, context-specific gossip       statements about them, and less willing when exposed to more negative,       context-specific gossip statements.              In this paper, the researchers also included an observational study of       40 Aka hunter-gatherers who live near the Ngandu horticulturists. This       study was designed as a series of questions asked verbally about real       people the participants knew, which increased the study's ecological       validity, meaning it shows that the results can be generalized to       real-life settings.              While not exactly parallel with the experimental studies, these       observational results also indicated that an individual's positive       reputation strongly influenced whether the Aka participants were willing       to share a resource with them.              "The cultural contexts are different, but they have the same patterns       of responses," said Hess. "This appears to be the universal psychology       in how people evaluate reputation in allocating valuable things from       industrial societies to small scale communities."        * RELATED_TOPICS        o Mind_&_Brain        # Social_Psychology # Stress # Relationships # Psychology        o Science_&_Society        # Industrial_Relations # Education_and_Employment #        Resource_Shortage # Disaster_Plan        * RELATED_TERMS        o Experimental_economics o Anchoring_bias_in_decision-making        o Placebo_effect o Workaholic o Charisma o Social_psychology        o Privacy o Self-esteem              ==========================================================================       Story Source: Materials provided by Washington_State_University. Original       written by Sara Zaske. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.                     ==========================================================================       Journal Reference:        1. Nicole H. Hess, Edward H. Hagen. The impact of gossip, reputation,        and        context on resource transfers among Aka hunter-gatherers, Ngandu        horticulturalists, and MTurkers. Evolution and Human Behavior,        2023; DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2023.02.013       ==========================================================================              Link to news story:       https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/04/230411105900.htm              --- up 1 year, 6 weeks, 1 day, 10 hours, 50 minutes        * Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)       SEEN-BY: 15/0 106/201 114/705 123/120 153/7715 226/30 227/114 229/110       SEEN-BY: 229/111 112 113 307 317 400 426 428 470 664 700 292/854 298/25       SEEN-BY: 305/3 317/3 320/219 396/45       PATH: 317/3 229/426           |
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