Research on Gossip: Taxonomy, Methods, and Future Directions

By Eric K. Foster. 2004

590 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Subfields: Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Experimental and Cognitive Psychology, Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/ce5d8e6eb4508f927f8b05181e1c02c45e6857d9

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In Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

In Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

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Citations in the corpus

Reputation management: Why and how gossip enhances generosity (2016, background): “People also have a strong tendency to gossip about others to affect their reputation (Foster, 2004).”
How the Grapevine Keeps You in Line (2011, background): “Although these considerations suggest that gossip may play an important role in shaping group dynamics, empirical research on gossip is lacking, as has been lamented by many interested in this phenomenon (e.g., Emler, 1994; Foster, 2004; Morreall, 1994).”
Is gossip power? The inverse relationships between gossip, power, and likability (2011, methodology): “…one’s own status (in part through downward social comparison) (Wert & Salovey, 2004) communicates to others that sexual indiscretion is not acceptable (Foster, 2004) and bonds the gossiper and the gossip recipient more so than does positive gossip (Bosson, Johnson, Niederhoeffer, & Swann, 2006).”
Narcissistic leadership and behavioral cynicism in the hotel industry: the role of employee silence and negative workplace gossiping (2020, background): “These include affecting the organization’s reputation and credibility (Foster, 2004) and one’s social interactions with others.”
Escaping bullying: The simultaneous impact of individual and unit-level bullying on turnover intentions (2012, background): “or easily discernable to a bystander, its existence can easily spread through gossip and other means of social communication present in an organization’s social environment (Foster, 2004; Salancik and Pfeffer, 1978).”
Reputation, Gossip, and Human Cooperation (2016, background): “While people may develop a firsthand reputation from their interaction partners or observers’ evaluations, they also tend to develop a secondhand reputation when these evaluations are further shared and spread with other third parties through gossip (Anderson & Shirako, 2008; Foster, 2004).”
An Integrated Review of Indirect, Relational, and Social Aggression (2005, background): “Gossip is a much wider category than malicious gossip, and it has a number of socially cohesive functions (Baumeister, Zhang, & Vohs, 2004; Campbell et al., 1997; Dunbar, 2004; Foster, 2004).”
Perceptions of Negative Workplace Gossip: A Self-Consistency Theory Framework (2018, background): “Its influence has been explored from different perspectives, including philosophy, anthropology, linguistics, psychology, biology, and the organizational sciences (Dunbar, 2004; Kniffin & Wilson, 2010; Noon & Delbridge, 1993; for a review, see Foster, 2004).”
Data Privacy: Effects on Customer and Firm Performance (2017, unknown): “Gossip theory describes how people respond to the unsanctioned collection, use, or disclosure of their personal information (Dunbar 2004; Foster 2004), and we consider it germane for understanding how customers respond when ﬁ rms collect and use their personal data.”
Workplace gossip and frontline employees’ proactive service performance (2019, background): “Gossip is suggested to have negative influences on targets’ affect, cognition, and behavior (Baumeister, Zhang, & Vohs, 2004; Beersma & Van Kleef, 2012) once individuals perceive themselves to be the targets of the gossip through observation and verification (Foster, 2004).”
The Effect of Workplace Negative Gossip on Employee Proactive Behavior in China: The Moderating Role of Traditionality (2015, methodology): “Research has shown that gossip is a natural social phenomenon that occurs in all kinds of organizations (Dunbar et al. 1997; Foster 2004; Kniffin and Wilson 2010).”
Interpersonal chemistry through negativity: Bonding by sharing negative attitudes about others (2006, background): “Indeed, some researchers are beginning to conceptualize gossip as a form of indirect aggression that can have harmful consequences for both gossipers and gossipees alike (Foster, 2004; Richardson & Green, 1997).”
Gossip in the workplace and the implications for HR management: a study of gossip and its relationship to employee cynicism (2015, methodology): “Based on the literature review, we found a variety of different views regarding the influence of gossip, some researchers regard gossip as positive, whereas others regard it as negative (e.g. Bok, 1982; Foster, 2004; Leaper & Holliday, 1995; McAndrew et al., 2007).”
A Social Network Analysis of Positive and Negative Gossip in Organizational Life (2010, background): “Foster (2004) illustrates that positive as well as negative gossip can have value in the workplace.”
Why people gossip: An empirical analysis of social motives, antecedents, and consequences (2012, methodology): “According to Foster (2004), “methods more sophisticated than eavesdropping and more convenient than ethnography need to be developed and applied” (p.”