Those engaged in the practice are likely to wonder if members of the group are gossiping about them behind their backs. And the person who is your target is expected to find out and will probably never be able to trust their colleagues again. Although it is not easy, we must be aware of how our language can wreak havoc on the world around us. With this in mind, let's consider 5 truly harmful effects of gossip.
Gossip creates distrust in everyone involved. If you're a person known for sharing everything you hear, many are likely to be nervous to share with you. As I was once taught: “If they talk to you about them, they will talk about you with them. So, while sharing the latest news may be pleasant at the time, the person listening will remember that you lacked discretion.
So not only will your listener lose trust in you, but when the person you've spoken to finds out about your inability to retain information, you'll also lose their trust. One way to ruin a person's reputation quickly is through gossip. We see this all the time when it comes to teenagers. It only takes one person to launch a rumor of indiscretion and cause a chain reaction.
Before long, she's known for something she may or may not have been involved in. It can take years to repair a tarnished reputation and, in most cases, the damage has already been done. In short, by combining facial research with AET (Weiss and Cropanzano, 1999), we propose a new theoretical framework for understanding the emotional impacts of negative gossip in the workplace on goals and their subsequent behavioral responses. Specifically, we identify the fear of losing one's reputation as a mediating mechanism in the relationship between negative workplace gossip and participation in negative gossip.
We suggest that negative gossip may arouse fear of losing face on goals (Zhang et al. According to the AET, personality traits can influence the emotional response process (Weiss and Cropanzano, 199). In addition, some studies have shown that people respond differently to threats, because personality characteristics play an important role in this process (Ho, 197). Self-control as a trait can play this role, that is, it can affect the way in which targets react to gossip about them.
Self-control is defined as the extent to which people desire and are able to control their public expression and shape their public appearances under the guidance of social adequacy (Snyder, 1977). Therefore, given the importance of self-control in making sense of and dealing with information related to humiliation or shame and the external image (Turnley and Bolino, 200 years old), we identify it as a construction that refers to the extent to which people are willing and able to control. their public expression and the form of their public images (Snyder, 1977). We predict that self-control moderates the relationship between negative workplace gossip and fear of losing one's reputation.
For example, through negative gossip, gossip can emphasize to the audience the legitimacy of their own norms and make them widely accepted in the group, which helps to maintain their images in that position (Foster, 2004; Shaw et al. For example, recent empirical studies have shown that negative gossip can have destructive effects on emotional well-being, and. We assume that participating in negative gossip may be the objective's response to negative gossip about them. This study also examined a contingent effect, namely, self-control, which mitigated the positive relationship between negative workplace gossip and fear of losing one's reputation.
The moderating role of self-control over the relationship between negative workplace gossip and fear of losing one's reputation. To fill this gap, this study combines facial research with the theory of affective events (AET, Weiss and Cropanzano, 199), in an attempt to reveal the emotional consequences of negative gossip in the workplace and the corresponding behavioral responses. Previous research has provided some important theoretical perspectives on the effects of gossip on targets, such as the theory of social exchange (Lee et al. As the popularity and widespread use of social networks increases, so does the ease and speed with which negative information can be spread about people.
Being the center of gossip is not only likely to be humiliating in the moment, but it can also have a long-term negative impact on a person's self-confidence and self-esteem. Fear of losing one's reputation mediates the positive and indirect relationship between negative workplace gossip and participation in negative gossip about the target. Seeking support from friends and family (as well as from a qualified mental health professional, when needed) can be beneficial to those dealing with the effects of gossip. Being the subject of gossip can be humiliating and isolating, and the mental health effects of rumors and gossip can be significant.
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