Prior research has extensively studied workplace group dynamics within the gossip triad (i.e., sender, receiver, and target). This research shifts the focus to third-party observers outside the gossip triad, examining how they evaluate gossipers and non-gossipers, and whom they turn to for advice. Across five pre-registered experiments ( = 1400), the present work builds on an integrative definition of gossip and provides a functionalist account of observers' nuanced evaluation of gossipers' personality from a global perspective. Observers perceive gossipers as less moral and competent, but more sociable, than non-gossipers (Experiment 1). Consequently, observers are less likely to seek advice from gossipers (vs. non-gossipers) for tasks requiring high morality (e.g., enforcing ethical conduct; Experiment 2a) and high competence (e.g., managing excess inventory; Experiment 2b), yet more likely to do so for tasks requiring high sociability (e.g., organizing a welcome lunch; Experiment 2c). A moderation-of-process approach shows that incidental cues signaling morality, competence, and sociability influence observers' evaluations of and advice-seeking from gossipers (versus non-gossipers) on relevant tasks (Experiments 2a–2c). These findings remain robust in an incentive-compatible setting (Experiment 3). This research advances our understanding of observers' evaluation of gossipers and its implications for workplace advice seeking.

中文翻译：

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低声说话和组织动态：对八卦者性格的细致评估及其对工作场所寻求建议的影响


先前的研究广泛研究了八卦三元组（即发送者、接收者和目标）内的工作场所群体动态。这项研究将焦点转移到八卦三人组之外的第三方观察者身上，研究他们如何评估八卦者和非八卦者，以及他们向谁寻求建议。通过五个预先注册的实验（= 1400），目前的工作建立在八卦的综合定义的基础上，并从全球角度对观察者对八卦者性格的细致入微的评估提供了功能主义的解释。观察者认为，与不八卦的人相比，八卦的人道德和能力较差，但更善于交际（实验 1）。因此，对于需要高道德（例如，执行道德行为；实验 2a）和高能力（例如，管理过剩库存；实验 2b）的任务，观察者不太可能向八卦者（相对于非八卦者）寻求建议，但更有可能对于需要高度社交的任务（例如，组织欢迎午餐；实验 2c），这样做。过程调节方法表明，表明道德、能力和社交能力的偶然线索会影响观察者对八卦者（相对于非八卦者）对相关任务的评估和寻求建议（实验 2a-2c）。这些发现在激励兼容的环境中仍然有效（实验 3）。这项研究增进了我们对观察者对八卦者的评价及其对工作场所建议寻求的影响的理解。