Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Men and women both love to gossip - but chatter tends to make males closer, whereas it can tear female friends apart

There are huge differences in the way men and women gossip - and it's not as simple as talking about football versus talking about shopping. 
For men, gossiping together brings them closer - but that effect doesn't work for women, and gossip can threaten friendships.
Oddly, the fact that men might be talking about football actually brings them closer. 
For men, gossiping together brings them closer - but that effect doesn't work for women, and gossip can threaten friendships
For men, gossiping together brings them closer - but that effect doesn't work for women, and gossip can threaten friendships
Sports chat
Sports chat: 'The male friendship is more characterized by engaging in group activities so gossip can serve to enhance the bond between individuals within the group,' says David C Watson of Grant McEwan University at Edmonton
Even boasting about achievements such as pay rises seems to bring men together. 
'The male friendship is more characterized by engaging in group activities so gossip can serve to enhance the bond between individuals within the group,' says David C Watson of Grant McEwan University at Edmonton. 
But because female friendships 'run deeper', gossip can have the opposite effect.
Women tend to chat a lot about physical appearance, and this can actually threaten their friendships.
'Female friendships are more characterized by communion or intimacy. Gossip can be more of a threat to the relationship than it does in male friendships,' says Watson. 
Both sexes, predictably, gossip in rather different ways.
'Physical appearance gossip was found to be more prevalent in females,' says Watson. 'but it doesn't help with friendship quality. This type of gossip may be a more of a competitive threat to the relationship in females. 
The 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.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2148784/Men-women-love-gossip--chatter-tends-make-males-closer-tear-women-friends-apart.html#ixzz1viCu0VdK