Gossip Dies When It Reaches An Intelligent Person’s Ear

The process always seems to go in the same direction: there is a hypocrite who starts with a rumor so that the gossip spreads it and the naive person believes it without question. The epidemic of rumors only ends when it finally reaches the ear of an intelligent person; that vaccinated heart does not pay attention to or respond to things that do not seem to be true.

In a book published in 1947 by the social psychologist Gordon Allport, entitled The Psychology of Rumors , he explains something very interesting to us: gossip creates a kind of cohesion among different groups of people and takes a stand against someone. These behaviors simultaneously give them pleasure, releasing endorphins to counteract stress.

In many cases, gossip becomes a social control mechanism that gives a certain amount of power to the people who perform it. It makes them the center of attention for that group of people who are receptive to every rumor, for misinformation that makes them let go of their routine and take advantage of a new stimulus as a kind of distraction.

Anyone can tell you that gossipers do not know how to be happy. They are too careful to camouflage their bitterness and try to validate their self-esteem.

The psychology of insatiable gossip

Let’s think about how quickly a rumor, true or not, is starting to become “contagious” in the world of social networking. The Internet has already become something that feeds us with information that is not always true or respectful of others.

When it comes to marketing experts, they always seem to set the example with “Tropical Fantasy”. It was released on the market in 1990 and had an almost immediate success in the United States, until it was rumored that it was terrible.

It was said that these cheap drinks had been created by the Ku Klux Klan with a concrete goal in mind. Their low cost would ensure that a large portion of the African American population with limited resources had access to them. Their prescription also had a very bad goal: to lower the quality of African American men’s semen so that they could not have more children.

No one knows who started this rumor or why, but its impact was devastating. It took years for the “Tropical Fantasy” brand to recover, and as a result, they always include images of African Americans drinking their beverages in their marketing, even today.

It did not matter how crazy the rumor itself was, or how harmful it was, because it managed to attack the sensitivity of a group. Even though they knew it was not true, the emotional imprint remained. This is a clear example of one of the rumors that has left a big impression.

To defend ourselves against rumors and gossip

Whether we like it or not, our society is based on power relations where rumors are real projectile weapons. Manipulated truths are useful to many people. They help them reach higher positions and they provide very concrete benefits.

So it is necessary that we are always that intelligent ear that will act as a barrier, stopping the false information and the spark of fire that is always trying to sweep someone away.

As a result, and in order to better understand these psychological processes that are so common in our social context, we suggest that you think about the cornerstones that sustain the gossip’s complex psychology, the gossip and the naive people who follow them.

Popular wisdom always tells us that in order to break a chain, one only has to get rid of one link. When gossip and rumors act as real viruses in our workplace, in our family or in our social circles, it is necessary to have reliable people who help us, who behave like intelligent ears to disarm things that do not seem logical.

Rumors spread when there is someone who wants to win something at our expense. When we are confronted with this behavior, we can act in two ways, either by letting the absurd fall on deaf ears or by setting boundaries.

We must be aware that in every organization, neighborhood or social group, there will be a person who loves to gossip.

We must always show integrity, be transparent and not nurture this type of behavior. It is also important to know that it is not always easy to disprove a reputation; words are not always enough. We need convincing facts to show how false the rumor is.