Gossip good for your health

Gossip is good for you, say researchers after an 18-month study.

They found that gossip, previously dismissed as harmful or trivial, can stamp out bad behaviour, strengthen friendships and circulate important information.

The study found people spend from a fifth to two-thirds of their daily conversation gossiping, with men indulging as much as women.

The researchers - anthropologists Kevin Kniffin of the University of Wisconsin and David S. Wilson of the State University of New York - discovered the gossip grapevine branched out through every social group at work and at home.

Informal chat, often behind people's backs, provided detailed information and an informal "handbook" on how to behave.