Written by Gerard Chow Si Kai, Anthony Ramos Escobal and Yanchen Li

As underlined by recent research conducted by the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Dartmouth College, people speak about 16,000 words on an average day with at least 65% of those involve discussing “social ” topics . This can include everything from talking about themselves to revealing personal information about other people through various conversations. But does the setting for these engaging talks matter?

In the tertiary education sector, the majority of international students heavily depend on information they obtain through language study, research and social interaction to get through everyday life but this can be done at the risk of harming someone else’s feelings too. As a survival tool, digital technology is their right-hand man in navigating this environment with social interaction following closely behind to make it all work.

THE OBSESSION WITH GOSSIP
Many international students depend on their social interactions to cope with the pressures of their studies and can quickly run out of social topics to discuss with their peers. At the bottom of this, is the most enticing topic of all – other people. Other’s looks, personality and social lives is the kind of motivation that often requires little preparation to about.

This information can be positive, negative or even neutral with potential dangers like cyber-bullying and other violent interactions arising easily from a lot of gossip, but what can we talk about if not other people’s lives which can be much more interesting than our own? What can international students do if they cannot stop as the act of gossiping is hardwired into our brains as explained below:

THE HABITS AND BEHAVOURS OF GOSSIPS
To better understand how gossiping affects the behaviour of international students, a small survey was conducted with them to help provide some clarity on the matter.

Early on, a large portion of surveyed students noted that their gossip charged conversations tended to happen more with their friends than their own family. This is to be expected as we can’t comfortably share everything with those who don’t think the way we do; especially when it comes to sensitive information.

This reasoning makes perfect sense as it is typically out of irritation and more so fun that that can make gossips want to talk about other people. With this in mind, just over half of participating international students expressed that they did not want witness the consequences of their actions. Not wanting to see the fruits of their labour highlights a self-awareness in these young people which suggests how toxic gossiping can generally be.

THE EMOTIONAL TOLL OF SOCIAL INTERACTION
We all have emotions, so when we are the ones who have been gossiped about; feeling angry and scared are normal feelings to have right?

Students generally agreed and sympathised with the question, but others were indifferent. There was no significant change in opinion when international students were asked how they would feel with the tables turned, and while a quarter of students were happy to be the subject of conversation; similarly acknowledged that they would feel guilty for having participated in gossip themselves. There was little relief and motivation amongst the surveyed students with this point.

IS THAT ALL THERE IS TO SPREADING GOSSIP?
The idea of being gossiped by others had them feeling respectively scared and angry. Besides – people normally gossip about someone they know, so it’s not like we really gossip about some random strangers right?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, less than a fifth of international students surveyed emphasised that they don’t gossip about someone they know. This can be taken to mean that for the majority, talking both good and bad things about others was a fact with the latter only focusing on the deliciously negative details. When questioned further, the international students were all on the same page in their belief that gossiping is common in high volume spaces like school and workplace environments where such behaviour was a given observation.

Gossiping about other people is quite normal and will eventually happen, since we all have emotions and thoughts that we can’t always control. Moreover, we usually gossip to people who we feel more close and comfortable to; as evidenced by the surveyed responses.

So whether it be in the workplace and at school, gossip can put people at ease and have us feel more relaxed. The innate human trait of gossiping varies dependent on the situation, but it is ultimately a must for the function of who we are.