MySimmons - Simmons College Community Intranet

George's Research Blog

A blog dedicated to research.

Posted: September 2, 2008 10:36 pm by George Sutcliffe | 0 comments
Tags: research

The Psychology of Gossip

I have a confession. I am completely addicted to celebrity gossip. It all began when I bought my first copy of US weekly. I'm not sure how old I was but a cover story about the original "Bennifer" seduced me and I have been an addict ever since. I love the "stars, their just like us!" page where on any given week you can see Tom Hanks pumping gas and Lauren from The Hills eating fro-yo. I love the bad fashions in the back where almost every week Courtney Love is photographed prancing around LA is some outrageous get up. Most of all I love the "Hot Stuff" section where I can always get my weekly fix of trash-tastic celebrity hook ups with stories like "K-Fed texts Lindsay!” (PS: I’m not making any of these up; I have actually read all these stories.)

Two years ago I developed a "tolerance" for my addiction and knew that I needed to kick it up to the next level. Sick of being out of the loop from Sunday until Thursday (Us Weekly was always put out at the local Jewel grocery store Thursday around 6:30- conveniently right as I was getting out of work) I started to "shop around" for a website that I could rely on to give me all the gossip I craved on a daily basis.

First, I tried the popular Perez Hilton site but I didn’t like the haphazard drawings that looked like they were quickly pasted together in the Windows "paint" application. Second I tried out Socialites Life. This proved better than Hilton but was still catty and lacked a distinct personality. Third I tried "the skinny website". Yes... it IS exactly what it sounds like- a website devoted to celebrity weight gain and loss. Going there I felt cheap and trashy.

Finally I found the right fit with pink is the new blog (www.pinkisthenewblog.com). Written by Trent, a blogger in LA by way of Detroit the site is witty but not as cynical. I have been a daily devoted reader for two years.

I was content living in my celebrity world be lately I've been noticing that gossip is making parts of my life unmanageable. First there is the unrelenting voice of my mother in my head every time I pick up an US Weekly telling me, "You SHOULD me reading the Times!” People closest to me have even expressed concern. This culminated when my boyfriend asked if I "really needed" to buy US. "Of course I need to buy US!" I whined looking longingly at the cover story, the fall fashion awards with Audrina, Whitney and Lauren from "The Hills". It was at that moment I realized I needed help.

So what is a gossip addict to do? Some time ago I read 12 steps for celebrity gossip addicts and I have decided to adapt them into my life. I know that I might relapse but with the help of the steps I hope that I can one day live a life that is not dominated by celebrity gossip. So here they are:

1. We admit that were powerless over celebrity gossip, US weekly, In Touch, Pink is the New Blog and TMZ—that our lives had become unmanageable.

2. We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore our sanity and squash my need to hear every detail of the Britney custody proceedings.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. And came to realize that God was not Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Dr. Mc Dreamy, or anyone from “The Hills”.

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of every time we went to a gossip website, magazine, or started a conversation with a friend about whether or not Lindsay Lohan will stay sober this time.

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of these wrongs, did not try to get them to share their opinions about Justin Bobby.

6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed by speaking incessantly about Britney Spears, Anna Nicole Smith, J Lo., and Paris Hilton, and became willing to make amends to them all.

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would make them want to injure me for bringing up Suri Cruise, again.

10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we indulged in senseless gossip promptly admitted it.

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of the New York Times website, the Economist and scholarly journals.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other gossip addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

And if these steps don’t work for right now there IS justification for gossip on the New York Time website in an article about the psychology of gossip http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/16/science/16tier.html?_r=1&oref=slogin.

Enjoy!

KS

Posted: October 19, 2007 12:44 pm by Katherine Swanson | 1 comment
Tags: 12 steps, article, celebrities, gossip, New York Times, psychology, research