Women love gossiping for many many reasons

Whether it is a brief conversation over coffee with a friend or a late-night telephone chat with a relative, gossiping bestows a feel-good aura on women who are feeling stressed out, left out or even simply having a bad day. While it has been criticized as pointless talk, gossip is beloved by women everywhere.

If you are wondering why gossiping feels so completely satisfying, here are the top 10 reasons why women just can’t stop themselves from indulging in one of life’s naughty little pleasures.

1. Gossip gives women a feeling of fitting in with others. It is almost like telling a secret to someone else, which means that you trust the person you are talking to. This may be understood also as forming a bond over gossip.

  2. Gossiping helps you make friends. By gossiping and sharing light or dark secrets, you are actually helping to form friendships, or so many girls believe.

3. Gossip reduces stress. For some reason, hearing bad news about other people actually makes us feel better. It gives us a happiness feeling to hear that our lives are better than we thought. When you hear someone got fired, you may actually not feel happy about it, but at least when you compare yourself to that person, it feels like you are in better position.

  4. Gossip helps us process our experiences. Women have a need to share their experiences with another person, much more so than men. Gossip helps understand, express and digest what is happening with you.

5. Gossip helps validate feelings. When you need validation for your point of view, it helps to go talk about someone who you feel has wronged you. It helps to say to the other person: “How could she do this?” Women often say that , because they want to be reaffirmed about upsetting things.

6. Gossip helps dealing with everyday life. It can be also used as a coping technique. People who are upset or jealous may feel better when gossipping. They get the “got even” feeling out of gossiping.

7. Gossip is a great way to network. When done carefully, it can be a form of self promotion and can enhance your status at work and social life.

8. Gossiping is a learned trait that we observe in others and that we pick up as a way to feel good about ourselves.  You may have seen it in your parents or in school.

9. Gossip lets women dissect relationships with other women. Men are focused on work and achievements, and just aren’t generally that interested in relationship stuff. Women like to digest all of the relationship that is going on with them and gossip gives them the opportunity.

10. Gossip makes us feel a little guilty, but it doesn’t come with a motherload of negative guilt-producing angst. Like cutting a class to spend the morning in the park or eating a chocolate cupcake when we know we shouldn’t, it is one of life’s small pleasures.