Essay on Gossip in the Workplace - 1837 Words

Gossip accounts for sixty-five percent of speaking time in our everyday conversations (Grosser et al., 2010). Not surprisingly, gossip is a common form of communication that is highly prevalent in our social lives, especially within the workplace. While gossip tends to hold negative connotations, research suggests that gossip may serve as a healthy social activity, creating unity and bringing people together. Gossip may have the power to strengthen group bonds, create stronger group identification, and foster greater interpersonal ties (Mills, 2010). Gossip, therefore, may serve as a beneficial organizational behavior within the workplace. However, the prevailing research links gossip to negative outcomes in the workplace, such as†¦show more content†¦Research suggests that rumors typically occur when individuals are in conditions of environmental ambiguity (Michelson et al., 2010). For example, situations of organizational change may cause environmental uncertainty, and rum ors occur to fill in the discrepancies. Therefore, rumors seem to be motivated by a need for sense making, whereas gossip seems to be motivated by relationship needs (Michelson et al., 2010). To gain a better understanding of gossip’s role in the workplace, some research has focused on the influence of workplace relationships on the spread of both positive and negative gossip. In particular, Grosser, Kidwell, Labianca (2010) examined the social network of organizations to understand the types of relationships through which positive and negative gossip are transmitted. Grosser et al. (2010) argue that an employee will engage in positive and/or negative gossip depending on an employee’s dyadic relationship ties with coworkers. More specifically, the extent to which an employee will engage in positive and/or negative gossip relies on the level of interpersonal trust in a relationship (Grosser et al., 2010). As such, Grosser et al. (2010) found that a work-related tie be tween employees was significantly associated with the exchange of solely positive gossip, while a â€Å"multiplex tie†, in which employees share both a friendship tie and a required work-related tie, was significantly associated with the exchange of both positive and negativeShow MoreRelatedRumour and Gossip in the Workplace - Literature Review2934 Words   |  12 PagesBehaviour Assignment 3 Hanna Darwish Rumour and gossip in the workplace Introduction People understand gossip and rumour whether experiencing it first hand or being the provider of information to create the gossip or rumour. The large proportion of gossip is devoted to a person who is not present in the discussion (Wielers, 1998 amp; sitzman, 2006). 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