Women who gossip about others are driven by jealousy and low self-esteem, a study suggests.
Researchers showed 190 participants aged 23-35 pictures of other women. They were asked to imagine themselves in a social group with a ‘target’ man.
They had to visualise the woman they had seen a picture of entering the group and getting close to the man.
They rated their jealousy on a scale, after which they were given negative information about the woman and asked to rate the likelihood of sharing it.
The analysis in the journal Evolutionary Psychological Science from Beijing Normal University revealed they were more likely to gossip about the woman to their own friends, rather than to anyone else.
They were also more likely to feel higher levels of jealousy if the woman was attractive, which in turn was linked to increased chances of gossiping about her.