It has been ingrained in us that gossip is rude and may damage feelings and reputations. Life is not just about office gossip; gossip is a part of life. Kathleen Reardon, a professor of management, said, “We learn who we are from what people say about us. It’s essential for us to connect with others and to talk about them. Offices are particularly challenging to avoid.”
Several principles can help you determine when to stay out of the fray and when to join it.
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Self-Knowledge Is Essential
There is a functional purpose to gossip, even if it is harmful when trying to make sense of something about oneself or the world. Our ability to be a social species is fundamentally based on gossip, the act of sharing your reactions; feelings about what others have done, how they have spoken, or how they have behaved. The species would probably be much less cooperative if we didn’t gossip.
Ensure That Facts Back Your Claims
Providing evidence is necessary to substantiate the information you are imparting. “We can ask ourselves, ‘Is it substantiated or is it going to create more uncertainty, more distrust?’ Using gossip to help others out is more effective than sowing distrust and chaos.
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Focus On The Positive Purpose At All Times
gossip is at its best as long as we work toward some human social goal. Is there anything we are trying to resolve individually and collectively? Does this conversation help or hurt? It is better to keep it zipped if it is doing that latter.
The purpose of gossip is to serve you and others. The best way to disengage when someone gets into salacious or spurious content is to clear. For example, usually wanders away to pet a dog when discussions get creepier—or, bolder, to say: “I’m uncomfortable with this conversation.”