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People feed off gossip. It's one reason why, in the 1960s, the National Enquirer swapped the gory, gruesome headlines they were known for with celebrity scoops and scandal. The switch gave the tabloid access to supermarket checkout lines and the "enquiring minds" in them.
人们的生活总是离不开八卦。这也是为什么在20世纪60年代，《国家询问者》（美国著名八卦小报） 将之前出了名残酷可怕的新闻头条换成了名人八卦和丑闻。这一转变使得这份小报开始摆在超市的结账处并成为八卦的人们排队时的谈资。
But it's not just tabloid readers who love to dish. Social scientists have found that everyone is hardwired to pay attention to gossip, and to participate in it. In fact, it's an evolutionary adaptation -- it's become human nature to spill the tea.
不仅是小报读者热爱八卦，社会科学家发现，人们天生就关注八卦，而且乐在其中。事实上，八卦作为人类的天性，是一种进化适应。
"We're the descendants of people who were good at this," said Frank McAndrew, a psychology professor at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. "In prehistoric times, people who were fascinated by the lives of other people were more successful."
“我们是擅长八卦的人类的后代。”美国诺克斯学院（位于伊利诺伊州盖尔斯堡）心理学教授弗兰克·麦克安德鲁说。“在史前时期，更关注他人生活的人往往更成功。”
01 什么是八卦
Most researchers define gossip as talking about someone who isn't present and sharing information that isn't widely known.
大多数研究者将八卦定义为讨论不在场的第三者，并分享鲜有人知的秘密消息的行为。
And according to an analysis by researchers at the University of California Riverside, the average person spends 52 minutes every day doing exactly that.
加州大学河滨分校的研究者分析称，普通人平均会每天花52分钟的时间八卦。
Yet the majority of our gossip is harmless. About 15% of our gabbing involves negative judgment -- or what researchers call "evaluative" -- but outside of that, the average person is just documenting facts, such as "she's stuck late at work," or "he had to go to the hospital."
然而，八卦大多是没有恶意的。在我们的闲聊中，约有15%会涉及消极的判断，也就是研究者们所说“具有评判性的”八卦。但除此之外，大多时候人们只是在陈述事实，比如“她工作到很晚”或“他必须去医院”。
This kind of neutral chitchat actually helps us build friendships, community or learn information that's vital for having a social life, said Megan Robbins, a UC Riverside psychology professor.
加州大学河滨分校的心理学教授梅根·罗宾斯表示，这种立场中立的闲聊实际上有助于我们建立友谊和社区关系，或者了解关于社交生活的重要信息。
"You can establish a relationship by talking about other people and finding out something about others in the group," she said. "Even for those types of gossip that are evaluative, you're saying, 'I'm trusting you with this information.'"
“在讨论别人或打探群体中其他人的过程中，我们和谈论者建立起一种关系。“她补充道。“即使那些带有评判性的八卦也是同理，因为这表示你信任谈论者。”
Although gossiping is often stereotyped as a feminine, low-class or uneducated pastime, Robbins said that everyone does it.
虽然八卦常被习惯性认为是一种女性化的，低级且没有教养的消遣，但罗宾斯指出，所有人都会八卦。
”Our data debunked all of the stereotypes," Robbins said. "As a social species, we have to talk about people. We don't live in isolation, and we talk about people who inevitably sometimes are not present.”
“数据打破了所有的成见。”罗宾斯说。“作为社会性群体，我们必须谈论别人。我们不是孤立地在生活，而且我们谈论的人有时难免不在场。”
02 八卦有什么好处
Gossip is universal in all cultures and has been around for centuries. When a feature of human behavior is so ubiquitous, scientists tend to think it’s stuck around for a reason—that in some way it’s helped us to survive.
八卦历史悠久且普遍存在于各种文化中。当人类行为的某一特征过于普遍，科学家们便倾向于认为它的存在是有原因的——即它在某种程度上有助于我们生存。
Robin Dunbar, an Oxford University anthropologist and evolutionary psychologist, has proposed that gossip is the human version of primates grooming one another; it's a way of sharing social information, but verbally, and in larger groups than one ape picking bugs off another.
牛津大学的人类学家和进化心理学家罗宾·邓巴提出，八卦其实是灵长类动物相互梳理毛发的“人类版本”，是一种分享社会信息的方式。但是，与猿猴们相互捡虱子不同，八卦是口头行为，并在更为庞大的群体中进行。
More recent research has shown that gossip can bring even modern humans together. Sharing gossip tells a person that you trust them. “That they’re going to be responsible with it, and that now we know something most other people don’t. That really ties us together,” McAndrew said.
最近的研究表明，八卦可以使现代人更团结。与他人分享八卦表示你信任他。麦克安德鲁说，“一起谈论八卦的人们需要对此负责：你看，现在我们一起知道了其他人所不知道的事。这无疑让我们的关系更紧密了。”
And it can be a way to figure out unwritten rules. For example, when we start a new job, the water cooler talk helps us find out what is acceptable office attire, who we might want to avoid working with on a team project, and whether it's acceptable to take a monthlong vacation.
八卦还可以帮我们弄清楚一些不成文的规定。例如，当我们从事一份新工作时，茶水间里的闲聊帮助我们明白怎样的办公着装是合适的，团队项目中应该避开谁，以及可不可以申请休月假。
"Sharing gossip with someone is a bonding mechanism," McAndrew said. "It does kind of increase morale."
“与人分享八卦是一种建立联系的机制。“麦克安德鲁说。“这确实多少有助于增进感情。”
Gossip also encourages us to behave, since we know if we do something outrageous, others will be whispering about it behind our backs. Gossip is one of the main ways we talk and learn about others' reputations.
八卦还有助于我们规范举止，因为我们知道，如果做了出格的事，别人会在我们背后窃窃私语。八卦是我们谈论和了解他人名声的主要途径之一。
The desire to maintain your reputation promotes cooperation with others and also deters people from doing nasty and awful things. It can force us to be good citizens and do the right things—meaning that gossiping about your friends who are violating social distancing rules could potentially be a way to make sure people stay at home. Studies of California cattle ranchers, Maine lobster fishers, and college rowing teams found they all used gossip to enforce their groups' social norms.
维护声誉的欲望促使人们与他人团结协作，也打消了人们做坏事的念头。八卦迫使我们成为好公民，做正确的事——比如，八卦那些违反社交隔离规则的朋友，也许不失为一个确保他们呆在家里的好办法。对加州牧牛农场主、缅因州龙虾渔民和大学赛艇队的调查发现，他们都利用八卦来强化自己所在群体的社交规范。
Gossip can also protect you from those with bad reputations. Prosocial gossip is when someone shares negative information about someone else, and it helps you avoid experiencing it yourself, like a whisper network. After hearing from a friend that a man ghosts every new girlfriend on the fourth date, you could choose to not go out with him at all. Gossip about other people can also make you think about yourself and your own actions, and want to be better, or be proud of yourself for acting differently.
八卦还能帮助我们远离那些声名狼藉的人。“亲社会性八卦”发生在某人分享关于他人负面信息的时候。这样的八卦如同“耳语网络”，可以避免我们重蹈他人覆辙。比如，当你从朋友那里得知，某个男人每次谈恋爱都会在第四次约会后就甩掉他的女朋友时，你可以从一开始就选择不跟他约会。八卦别人也促使我们反观自身行为，想让自己变得更好，或者为自己做出（与被八卦者）不同的行为而感到自豪。
whisper network: 最先出自钱德勒·贝克的书《耳语网络》，主要讲述了四个女人团结一致，拒绝窃窃私语，而是选择用大声谈论的方式讨论工作场所的性骚扰和性侵犯，勇敢发声。
“I think one of the reasons why gossip is so much a part of who we are is because it is adaptive in so many different ways," McAndrew said.
“我认为，八卦之所以成为我们的一部分，其中一个原因就在于它在很多方面都具有适应性，”麦克安德鲁说。
03 我们为什么爱讲名人八卦
Humans are hardwired to care about the lives of people who are friends, foes or family. Researchers call those people "socially important." But why do we care about famous people we've never actually met?
人们天生就喜欢关注自己的朋友、死对头或者家人的生活。研究者称，这些人“在社交层面很重要”。但我们为什么会关注那些素未谋面的名人呢？
"What's going on is that our caveman brains are unprepared to deal with (modern communication). In those days, if you knew a lot about someone, by definition they were socially important to you," McAndrew said.
“目前的状况是，我们穴居人的大脑并没有做好应对现代交流的准备。在史前时期，如果你对某个人非常了解，那么很显然这些人在社交层面对你很重要。”麦克安德鲁说。
This is especially true today thanks to the internet and social media, which means we know a lot about people we don't actually know. Being privy to that information tricks our brains into thinking celebrities are socially important to our lives. One of McAndrew's studies showed that we even gravitate toward celebrity tabloid stories about people of the same gender and age group.
如今更是如此。由于互联网和社交媒体的发展，我们认识了很多我们并不真正了解的人。而了解这些信息会欺骗我们的大脑，让我们以为这些名人在社交层面对我们的生活很重要。麦克安德鲁的一项研究表明，我们甚至会被相同性别、相同年龄名人的八卦故事所吸引。
"They're our cohort -- they might be our rivals or allies," McAndrew explained. "Consciously, you know they don't matter and you're not going to meet them, but they press the same buttons in our brains as people who do matter to us."
“他们是我们的同生群，他们也可能是我们的对手或盟友”，麦克安德鲁解释道。“潜意识里，你知道他们不是很重要，你也并不会见到他们，但是他们就是会与那些对我们重要的人一样，在大脑中形成同样的刺激。”
同生群：研究人类时也常解释为同一年代出生的人群。同生群人口具有相同的社会时代背景,共同经历了相同的社会历史。
Celebrity gossip also gives us common ground with others. Pop culture knowledge gives us something to talk about during those awkward small talk encounters or at parties where we don't know many people.
名人八卦还让我们和其他人有共同话题。对流行文化的了解让我们在闲聊陷入尴尬时或在熟人很少的聚会上有话可谈。
"You might even think about keeping up with celebrities as a social skill," McAndrew said. "It makes you know about things that other people care about."
“你甚至可以把跟进名人动态当作一种社交技巧。“麦克安德鲁说，“这让你知道大家都在关心什么事。”
If you're worried that your gossip is excessive or otherwise harmful, start by examining the reasons why you think you have an issue, McAndrew said, as it may be that you're not using the skill appropriately.
他还表示，如果你担心自己过分八卦会造成不良影响，先想想看为什么你会觉得自己有这样的问题。答案也许是你没有正确使用八卦的技巧。
"Bad gossipers are either people who indiscriminately blab everything they have heard to anyone who will listen, or they are individuals with a clearly selfish agenda in which gossip is designed to damage the reputations of their rivals," he said. Those who do it well "know things but are trusted to be discreet. They have the well-being of others on their radar."
“差劲的八卦者要么毫无遮拦，要么专门传播破坏对手名声的八卦，以泄私愤。“麦克安德鲁说。聪明的八卦者“会顾及他人的福祉，掌握八卦却谨言慎行”。
If you notice that "your gossip is hurting your relationships or taking time away from other things you need to be doing," McAndrew said, it may be time to cut back. He suggested you try avoiding the situations or people that bring out the worst in you.
麦克安德鲁还说，如果你发现“八卦正在伤害你的人际关系，或者占用了你做正事的时间”，那你差不多该停手了。他建议尽量避免上述情况，也不要让他人激发出你最恶劣的一面。
素材来源：
https://us.cnn.com/2020/05/11/health/science-of-gossip-scn-wellness/index.html
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/88943x/benefits-of-gossip-during-quarantine-we-need-gossip-now-more-than-ever
编译：李旻艺 黄思谊 陆风后 刘宇航 周冰倩 马林
排版：马林
审核：刘佳
