Psychological adaptations for assessing gossip veracity |
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Authors: | Nicole H Hess Edward H Hagen |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Criminal Law and Criminology, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1105, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands |
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Abstract: | Evolutionary models of human cooperation are increasingly emphasizing the role of reputation and the requisite truthful “gossiping”
about reputation-relevant behavior. If resources were allocated among individuals according to their reputations, competition
for resources via competition for “good” reputations would have created incentives for exaggerated or deceptive gossip about
oneself and one’s competitors in ancestral societies. Correspondingly, humans should have psychological adaptations to assess
gossip veracity. Using social psychological methods, we explored cues of gossip veracity in four experiments. We found that
simple reiteration increased gossip veracity, but only for those who found the gossip relatively uninteresting. Multiple sources
of gossip increased its veracity, as did the independence of those sources. Information that suggested alternative, benign
interpretations of gossip decreased its veracity. Competition between a gossiper and her target decreased gossip veracity.
These results provide preliminary evidence for psychological adaptations for assessing gossip veracity, mechanisms that might
be used to assess veracity in other domains involving social exchange of information. |
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