Gossiping may not be as harmless as it seems — and in fact, it could even offer a reproductive advantage, according to a new study.
Researchers have found that people who engage in gossip or social rumour-spreading are more likely to be in relationships and have children compared to those who avoid it.
The study, published in the journal of Evolutionary Psychological Science, analysed data from nearly 1,500 adults who took part in an online survey examining so-called relational aggression — behaviours such as gossiping, spreading rumours, or socially excluding others.
Participants who reported higher levels of relational aggression were found to be more frequently involved in romantic relationships than those with lower levels. Further analysis also suggested a link between these behaviours and a higher number of biological children.
The findings add a new layer to a much older question about what “gossip” actually is — and why it carries such a loaded meaning in modern society.
Historically, gossip did not always have a negative connotation. As research into its linguistic roots shows, the term originally comes from the Old English idea of a godparent — combining God and sibb (meaning kin or relation). Over time, it evolved to describe women’s friendships and close social bonds, particularly those involved in childbirth and caregiving.
In early modern England, around the 1500s, “gossip” referred to women who were “companions in childbirth” — midwives and female friends who supported one another through pregnancy, birth, and family life. These relationships were often deeply embedded in community life and held real social importance.
As historian Silvia Federici argues in her essay On the Meaning of ‘Gossip’, women at the time shared much of their lives with one another, cooperating in domestic and social work, from sewing and washing to childbirth itself. In some cases, women even had independent legal rights, including the ability to bring complaints in court against men who harmed them.
Federici notes that during this period, women’s “gossip” was not seen as trivial or shameful at all — but rather as part of a broader network of female solidarity and knowledge-sharing that played a meaningful role in society.
However, as European societies shifted in the 1500s with the rise of more patriarchal and capitalist structures, the meaning of gossip began to change. Women’s independence and social networks increasingly came under scrutiny, and their speech was often portrayed in a negative light.
Federici argues that as women were pushed out of public life and more tightly controlled within the home, their communication with one another became framed as “idle talk” or “scolding,” eventually leading to punishments and restrictions on women gathering and speaking freely.
This shift helped reshape “gossip” into the pejorative term it is widely understood as today — associated with rumour, judgement, and reputational harm.
In modern interpretation, gossip is often defined as informal conversation that can damage reputations or spread private information. Yet, as some scholars argue, this framing also reinforces a long-standing cultural tendency to dismiss women’s speech as trivial or unreliable.
