Gossip in Evolutionary Perspective

By Robin I. M. Dunbar. 2004

883 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Subfields: Social Psychology, Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/dc988db35a1a3558de7e782ad5c2ef84f9c98487

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Citations in the corpus

Facebook's emotional consequences: Why Facebook causes a decrease in mood and why people still use it (2014, background): “Considering the amount of passive consumption that occurs on Facebook, these speculations appear especially apt, as being up to date about other people’s lives constitutes an essential component of gossiping, a modern human version of social grooming (Dunbar, 2004).”
A Social Comparison Account of Gossip (2004, background): “Otherwise, they would find themselves alone, without allies ( Dunbar, 1996, 2004 ) and without a group to which to belong.”
Is gossip power? The inverse relationships between gossip, power, and likability (2011, background): “Free riders are individuals who benefit from group living but fail to contribute to the group (Dunbar, 1996, 2004; McAndrew & Milenkovic, 2002).”
We're not friends anymore! unless... : The frequency and harmfulness of indirect, relational, and social aggression (2006, background): “Perhaps, the term malicious gossiping should be introduced to distinguish it from gossip in general, which has other functions, such as advertising status and networking [Dunbar, 1996, 2004].”
WHY TALK? SPEAKING AS SELFISH BEHAVIOUR (2006, methodology): “" (Dunbar, 2004, italics in original).”
Interpersonal chemistry through negativity: Bonding by sharing negative attitudes about others (2006, background): “Theorists have noted, however, that negatively valenced gossip may be an especially important mechanism of social bonding (Dunbar, 2004).”
How the Grapevine Keeps You in Line (2011, background): “What starts with gossip may eventually lead to exclusion from the group, and this prospect inhibits group members’ tendency to behave in a self-serving manner, even though they might be tempted to do so (Baumeister et al., 2004; Dunbar, 2004).”
Age differences in women's tendency to gossip are mediated by their mate value (2012, background): “Gossip can benefit individual members of a group: it can be used to enforce group norms and enhance conformity, to detect cheaters, and to discourage free riders (Dunbar, 1996; 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).”
Gossip in the workplace and the implications for HR management: a study of gossip and its relationship to employee cynicism (2015, background): “First, gossip may not necessarily tell the truth and cause problems (Dunbar, 2004).”
Research on Gossip: Taxonomy, Methods, and Future Directions (2004, background): “Enquist and Leimar (1993) and Dunbar (2004), in this volume, maintain that gossip is a kind of informal policing device for controlling free riders and social cheats.”
Signals in Social Supernets (2007, background): “with friends and colleagues, ask how they are doing and exchange a few words about common acquaintances, the news, or the local sports team ( Dunbar, 1996; 2004 ).”
SOCIALLY SITUATED COGNITION IN PERSPECTIVE (2013, background): “Indeed, it has been argued that this function of gossip, allowing groups to protect themselves and their members against untrustworthy or deviant individuals, is the reason that we have evolved to find gossip so interesting and to engage in it so frequently (Dunbar, 2004).”