Have you ever heard? Oh what, of all things, he gets the job? He is so lazy! Did our boss really say that? I don’t think so now! Gossip and gossip are part of everyday work. But now, in the Corona era, a lot of people are working at home. The random gathering and short whispers fail.
“It’s a dark time for classic industrial radio,” says media scientist Brigitte Weingart from the Berlin University of the Arts, who researches gossip and rumors. But why do we enjoy gossiping so much? Conversations are always about people who are not present. “We also need an exchange to compare our own thoughts and assessments with those of others,” explains Tim Hagemann, industrial psychologist from the Diakonie University of Applied Sciences in Bielefeld. “Did I just find it funny at the conference, for example, or someone else?”
Gossip has a bad reputation. Brigitte Weingart is certain of one thing: they benefit social cohesion. Only discussions about professional content did not create a closeness between two people. Do we think similarly? What values does the person represent? Can i trust her Even a group that actually has many conflicts with each other can feel connected while gossiping for a moment. Suddenly something unites them.
Annoyances – a kind of counterpower to the boss
One year ago, Megan Robbins and Alexander Karan from the University of California at Riverside found out that almost everyone gossiped, but the content was mostly harmless. For their work, the psychologists evaluated data from almost 500 women and men who carried a recording device with them for days. About 14 percent of the time, people were absent. For a 16-hour day, this corresponds to 52 minutes. Young adults blasphemed a little more than older people, women a little more than men.
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In companies in particular, hierarchies play a major role in gossip and floor radio. In meetings, Weingart says, it is often clear who is in charge and who makes decisions. Alone with the colleague, you can finally say what you really think. Then is the time “to let off steam and get rid of things that are officially unpredictable,” says Weingart. Annoyances – a kind of counterpower to the boss.
How pronounced the floor radio is says more about the operation. If things are unclear in the company, murmurs quickly. Where there is an information vacuum, people tend to fill it with guesswork. Gossiping can therefore also be a sign of a lack of communication.
Of course, in all of this, a distinction has to be made between the informal exchange about everyday things like the weather and gossip. “There are always at least three gossips: two who gossip and a third person who is talked about,” explains Weingart. Which can lead to problems. For example, if you talk badly about someone or bully him or her when the whispering is excessive. Even on very intimate topics. “If two employees separate, the talk about it is an imposition for them themselves,” says the scientist. For those who speak, it may serve to process their own separations and injuries. But it can be pretty hard on those who are talked about. ”
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In addition, gossiping becomes tricky when distrust arises or politics is carried out, for example when someone badly talks to the competition about a job. According to paragraph 626 of the German Civil Code, untruths that degrade other colleagues or customers or hurt their honor are grounds for termination without notice.
Now there is concern that someone is reading
How does working in the home office change the exchange of information and rumors? Tim Hagemann says that digital communication is definitely not the way to talk. After all, there is concern that someone is reading. Messages can also be forwarded. The phone is more suitable. He encourages colleagues to make a conscious call, to have a casual chat on a lunch stroll. “Or the team sets a fixed appointment just to talk about how everyone is doing.” But it is also part of a manager’s job to think about it and not to leave everyone alone. Who knows how long the pandemic will last? “If this continues for two years, more efforts will be necessary,” says Hagemann.
Michael Kastner from the Institute for Occupational Psychology and Occupational Medicine in Herdecke believes that continuing to work from home has long-term consequences. “Psychological impairments will go up after Corona,” he believes. According to Kastner, there are “health enhancers” for people such as meaning, appreciation, scope for action, control, commitment, trust. “In the home office, there is just no check mark behind many of these points.” He believes that gossip is important because for us humans other people are always the most interesting – and “we can also learn something from the experiences and fates of others”.
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