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Women who gossip about others are driven by jealousy and low self-esteem, study claims

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We all enjoy chattering about the latest rumour or scandal from time to time.

But ladies, beware – as women who gossip about others are driven by jealousy and low self-esteem, a study suggests.

Researchers recruited 190 women aged between 23 and 35, who were asked to rate their own physical attractiveness and self-esteem on a scale.

They were then randomly assigned to look at pictures of women who were categorised as either high or low in attractiveness.

Participants were asked to imagine themselves in a social group with a 'target' man, and to picture the woman they had seen a picture of entering the group and getting close to the man.

We all enjoy chattering about the latest rumour or scandal from time to time. But ladies, beware – as women who gossip about others are driven by jealousy and low self-esteem, a study suggests (stock image)

We all enjoy chattering about the latest rumour or scandal from time to time. But ladies, beware – as women who gossip about others are driven by jealousy and low self-esteem, a study suggests (stock image)

They rated their jealousy on a scale, after which they were presented with negative information about the woman and asked to rate the likelihood of sharing this information in various social contexts.

Analysis revealed participants were more likely to spread negative information about the woman to their own friends, rather than to anyone else.

They were also more likely to report feeling higher levels of romantic jealousy if the woman was attractive, which in turn was linked to higher chances of gossiping about her.

Participants with low self-esteem were slightly more likely to gossip, particularly when the competitors were highly attractive, the researchers found.

The team, from Beijing Normal University, published their findings in the journal Evolutionary Psychological Science.

Analysis revealed participants were more likely to spread negative information about the woman to their own friends, rather than to anyone else (stock image)

Analysis revealed participants were more likely to spread negative information about the woman to their own friends, rather than to anyone else (stock image)

'This research investigated whether and how young women used gossip strategies to win opportunities for themselves when facing physically attractive potential romantic competitors,' they wrote.

'Our results suggest that when facing physically attractive potential competitors, young women experienced higher levels of romantic jealousy and were thus more likely to transmit negative information that could harm potential competitors' sexual reputations to their friends.

'Furthermore, women with low self-esteem were more likely to experience higher levels of romantic jealousy and were more likely to transmit negative information to their friends.'

DO MEN GOSSIP AS MUCH AS WOMEN?

A shocking recent study revealed that men gossip as much as women.

And far from behaving like gentlemen, they are more likely than their female counterparts to b**ch about workmates.

Researchers quizzed more than 2,200 people about their gossiping habits and found that males and females are equally likely to share tittle-tattle in the office. 

But while women tend to talk supportively about colleagues, men try to run rivals down.

The researchers suggested that gossip gave women a way to compete in a non-physically threatening manner, while for men it helped build their self-confidence.

The study, published in March and carried out by Ariel University in Israel, asked participants to imagine describing a person they had just met to a friend and analysed the responses.

The authors concluded: 'Our findings suggest women and men engage in the same amount of gossiping activity, undermining invidious common stereotypes.

'The results indicated a statistically significant difference between genders, confirming that women's gossip is encoded with more positivity than that of men.' 

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