Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Gender Differences in Gossip and Friendship

Sex Roles volume 67, pages 494–502 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

Gossip has been related to friendship as it can increase the bond between people and sense of belonging to a group. However, the role of gender in the relationship between gossip and friendship has not been examined in the literature. So, the present study examined gender differences in the relationship between friendship quality and gossip tendency with a sample of 167 female and 69 male Western Canadian undergraduate University students using the Friendship questionnaire and the Tendency to Gossip questionnaire. Given gender differences in friendship, with males being more agentic and females more communal, the relationship between gossip and friendship was predicted to be stronger in the males compared to the females. Friendship quality was positively correlated with gossip tendency in the males, but this effect was not present with the females. The information gossip scale was strongly associated with male friendship quality. This finding may be related to the greater emphasis on status with males, and that possession of knowledge and control of information is a method of attaining status. Physical appearance gossip was found to be more prevalent in females, but not related to friendship quality. This type of gossip may be a more of a competitive threat to the relationship in females. Achievement related gossip was also related to male friendship quality, which reflects the greater emphasis on individuation in male friendships.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

References

  • Acheson, J. M. (1988). The lobster gangs of Maine. Hanover & London: University Press of New England.

    Google Scholar 

  • Adams, G., & Plaut, V. C. (2003). The cultural grounding of personal relationship: Friendship in North America and West African Worlds. Personal Relationships, 10, 333–347. doi:10.1111/1475-6811.00053.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ayim, M. (1994). Knowledge through the grapevine. In R. F. Goodman & A. Ben-Zeev (Eds.), Good gossip (pp. 85–99). Lawrence: University of Kansas Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bank, B. J., & Hansford, S. L. (2000). Gender and friendship: Why are men’s best same-sex friendships less intimate and supportive? Personal Relationships, 7, 63–78. doi:10.1111/j.1475-6811.2000.tb00004.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baron-Cohen, S., & Wheelwright, S. (2003). The friendship questionnaire: An investigation of adults with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism, and normal sex differences. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 33, 509–517. doi:10.1023/A:1025879411971.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baumeister, R. F., & Sommer, K. L. (1997). What do men want? Gender differences and two spheres of belongingness: Comment on Cross and Madson (1997). Psychological Bulletin, 122, 38–44. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.122.1.38.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bergmann, J. R. (1993). Discreet indiscretions: The social organization of gossip. New York: Walter de Gruyter, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Besnier, N. (1989). Information withholding as a manipulative and collusive strategy in Nukulaelae gossip. Language in Society, 18, 315–341. doi:0.1017/S0047404500013634.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Besnier, N. (2009). Gossip and the everyday production of politics. Honolulu: University of Hawai’I Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blumberg, H. H. (1972). Communication of interpersonal evaluations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 23, 157–162. doi:10.1037/h0033027.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brison, K. J. (1992). Just talk: Gossip, meetings, and power in a Papua New Guinea Village (Studies in Melanesian Anthropology). Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • De Backer, C. J. S., Nelissen, M., & Fisher, M. L. (2007). Let’s talk about sex: A study on the recall of gossip about potential mates and sexual rivals. Sex Roles, 56, 781–791. doi:10.1007/s11199-007-9237-x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Vries, B. (1996). Friendship: A life course perspective. In C. Magai & S. H. Mc Fadden (Eds.), Handbook of emotion, adult development and aging (pp. 249–268). New York: Academic.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Dunbar, R. (2010). How many friends does one person need? Dunbar’s number and other evolutionary quirks. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellickson, R. C. (1991). Order without law: How neighbors settle disputes. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Emler, N. (1994). Gossip, reputation, and social adaptation. In R. F. Goodman & A. Ben-Ze’ev (Eds.), Good gossip (pp. 119–140). Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foster, E. K. (2004). Research on gossip: Taxonomy, methods, and future directions. Review of General Psychology, 8, 78–99. doi:10.1037/1089-2680.8.2.78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foster, E. K., & Rosnow, R. L. (2006). Gossip and network relationships. In D. C. Kirkpatrick, S. Duck, & M. K. Foley (Eds.), Relating difficulty: The process of constructing and managing difficult interaction (pp. 161–180). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ginsberg, D., Gottman, J. M., & Parker, G. P. (1987). The importance of friendship. In J. M. Gottman & G. P. Parker (Eds.), Conversations of friends: Speculations on affective development (pp. 3–48). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gonzalez, Y. S., Moreno, D. S., & Schneider, B. H. (2004). Friendship expectations of early adolescents in Cuba and Canada. Journal of Cross Cultural Psychology, 35, 436–445. doi:10.177/0022022104264127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grosser, T. J., Lopez-Kidwell, V., & Labianca, G. (2010). A social network analysis of positive and negative gossip in organizational life. Group & Organization Management, 35, 177–212. doi:10.1177/105961109360391.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall, J. A. (2011). Sex differences in friendship expectations: A meta-analysis. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 28, 723–747. doi:10.1177/0265407510386192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haviland, J. B. (1977). Gossip as competition in Zinacantan. Journal of Communication, 27, 186–191. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.1977.tb01816.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hess, N. C., & Hagen, E. H. (2002). Informational warfare. Retrieved from http://cogprints.org/2112/.

  • Jaeger, M. E., Skleder, A. A., Rind, B., & Rosnow, R. L. (1994). Gossip, gossipers, gossipees. In R. F. Goodman & A. Ben-Zeev (Eds.), Good gossip (pp. 154–168). Lawrence: University of Kansas Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koh, Y. J., Mendelson, M. J., & Rhee, U. (2003). Friendship satisfaction in Korean and Canadian university students. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science, 35, 239–253. doi:10.1037/h0087205.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lansford, J., Putallaz, M., Grimes, C. L., & Schiro-Osman, K. A. (2006). Perceptions of friendship quality and observed behaviors with friends: How do socimetrically rejected, average, and popular girls differ. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 52, 694–720. doi:10.1353/mpq.2006.0036.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levin, J., & Arluke, A. (1985). An exploratory analysis of sex differences in gossip. Sex Roles, 12, 281–286. doi:10.1007/BF00287594.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Macoby, E. E. (1998). The two sexes: Growing apart, coming together. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Massar, K., Buunk, A. P., & Rempt, S. (2012). Age differences in women’s tendency to gossip are mediated by their mate value. Personality and Individual Differences, 52, 106–109. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2011.09013.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nevo, O., Nevo, B., & Derech-Zehavi, A. (1993). The development of the tendency to gossip questionnaire: Construct and concurrent validation for a sample of Israeli college students. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 53, 973–981. doi:10.1177/001316449305004010.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nevo, O., Nevo, B., & Derech-Zehavi, A. (1994). The tendency to gossip as a psychological disposition: Constructing a measure and validating it. In R. F. Goodman & A. Ben-Zeev (Eds.), Good gossip (pp. 180–189). Lawrence: University of Kansas Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paine, R. (1970). Informal communication and information-management. Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, 7, 172–188. doi:10.111/j.1755-618X.1970.tb01159.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosnow, R. L. (1977). Gossip and marketplace psychology. Journal of Communication, 27, 158–163. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.1977.tb01811.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salove, D. J. (2007). The future of reputation: Gossip, rumor, and privacy on the internet. New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Suh, E., Diener, E., Oishi, O., & Triandis, H. C. (1998). The shifting basis of life satisfaction judgments across cultures: Emotions versus norms. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 482–493. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.74.2.482.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suls, J. M. (1977). Gossip as social comparison. Journal of Communication, 27, 164–168. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.1977.tb01812.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turner, M. M., Mazur, M. A., Wendel, N., & Winslow, R. (2003). Communication Monographs, 70, 129–141. doi:10.1080/03633775032000133782.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright, P. H. (1988). Interpreting research on gender differences in friendship: A case for Moderation and a plea for caution. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 5, 367–373. doi:10.177/0265407588053006.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright, P. H. (2006). Towards an expanded orientation to the comparative study of women’s and men’s same-sex friendships. In K. Dindia & D. J. Canary (Eds.), Sex differences and similarities in communication (2nd ed., pp. 37–57). Mahwah: Lawrence Erbaum Associates Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zarbatany, L., Conley, R., & Pepper, S. (2004). Personality and gender differences in friendship needs and experiences in preadolescence and young adulthood. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 28, 299–310. doi:10.1080/1650250344000514.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Grant MacEwan University, CCC-6-374, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T5J 2J2

    David C. Watson

Authors
  1. David C. Watson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to David C. Watson.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Watson, D.C. Gender Differences in Gossip and Friendship. Sex Roles 67, 494–502 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-012-0160-4

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-012-0160-4

Keywords

search

Navigation