Nasty and Noble Notes: Interdependence Structures Drive Self-Serving Gossip.

Area of Science:

• Social Psychology
• Behavioral Economics
• Information Dissemination

Background:

• Gossip is a primary channel for social information.
• The reliability of gossip is crucial for social interactions and decision-making.
• Understanding factors influencing gossip's accuracy is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how the interdependence structure between gossip senders, targets, and receivers affects gossip's trustworthiness.
• To determine if self-interest influences the truthfulness of gossip.
• To analyze the conditions under which false positive and false negative gossip occur.

Main Methods:

• Conducted a scenario study (Nsenders = 350, Nobservations = 700) and an interactive laboratory experiment (Nsenders = 126, Nobservations = 3024).
• Participants engaged in a sequential prisoner's dilemma game.
• Manipulated interdependence structures: gossipers' outcomes linked to targets', receivers', or independent.

Main Results:

• Gossip was more frequently false when senders' outcomes were interdependent with targets' outcomes.
• False positive gossip (self-serving) increased when senders were interdependent with targets.
• False negative gossip did not increase when senders were interdependent with receivers.

Conclusions:

• The interdependence structure significantly impacts gossip's trustworthiness.
• Gossipers are less likely to be truthful when their outcomes align with the target's outcomes.
• Self-interest, particularly when aligned with the target, can lead to biased information.