Celebrity Obsession Or Gossip For A Global Village?

Society generally dictates that gossip is a guilty pleasure, but psychologists and anthropologists are discovering it may have a far more profound purpose.

“Popular usage defines gossip as small talk or idle talk, but gossip is hardly inconsequential or without purpose,’ says Temple University’s Professor Emeritus Ralph L. Rosnow and colleague social psychologist Eric K. Foster in their joint paper on the subject of gossip. “It has been theorized that gossip played a fundamental role in the evolution of human intelligence and social life and that it continues to play an active role in cultural learning and as a source of social comparison information.”

“Gossip appears to be a very sophisticated, multifunctional interaction which is important in policing behaviors in a group and defining group membership," says Professor David Sloan Wilson, who teaches biology and anthropology at the State University of New York. In his book, Darwin's Cathedral, Wilson views society is an organism, and agues that religion is evolution at work, having important biological functions, which furthered mankind through increased social function, with gossip serving as a tool.

So where does our hankering for celebrity gossip fall into this elaborate social equation? Well consider that hundreds of years ago, before societies got so vast in size, and before we had such a plethora of media streams, common social references were easier to come by. 16th century villagers for example, would know everyone in their community. But now, those kind of everyday universal social references are harder to come by, so celebrities fill the void, providing easy points of reference and common benchmarks.

Furthermore, gossip is an important social tool, allowing us to make easy, non-threatening connections with strangers in social situations and providing fodder for everyday human interaction. “It’s a social skill, not a character flaw,” argues Frank McAndrew, a professor of psychology at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill. “It’s only when you don’t do it well that you get into trouble.”

If everyday social situations, such as parties or business conferences, fill you with anxiety, surely it’s better to go armed with a handful of gossip than a handful of pills or the indiscriminate courage gained from a bottle of booze. Also, a conversation about a remote celebrity rather than someone you actually know is far less prone to pitfalls. Since you’re talking ostensibly about a remote third party, it’s a non-threatening way of testing boundaries and establishing common values, in order to get to know someone -- or decide if you want to.

But, though celebrity gossip and gossip in general may serve a purpose, it’s no substitute for developing relationships based on real intimacies. “Celebrity gossip, of all the gossip along with sports conversations, which is a form of celebrity gossip, are the least intimate conversations one can possibly have, which doesn't mean it's not useful as a social tool. But if the conversation ends there, what one has an achieved is a false sense of intimacy,” warns Los Angeles-based psychotherapist and relationship expert Martin C. Novell. “Obviously the skill of gossip is much easier to develop than the skill of sharing and caring, which carries a greater degree of responsibly and thoughtfulness, but also higher emotional rewards.”

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