Gossiping `brings men closer but endanger female friendships`

London: While both men and women may enjoy dishing the dirt, a new study suggests that there are huge differences in the way men and women gossip.

Researchers have asserted that chatter tends to draw males closer whereas it can tear female friends apart. Men have been found to chat about shared activities such as sports so it brings them closer, while on other hand women chat about physical appearance and as a result it can endanger friendships. Moreover, there are huge differences in the way men and women gossip - and it````s not as simple as talking about football versus talking about shopping. “The male friendship is more characterized by engaging in group activities so gossip can serve to enhance the bond between individuals within the group,” the Daily Mail quoted David C Watson of Grant McEwan University at Edmonton, as saying. Interestingly, even boasting about achievements such as pay rises seems to bring men together. “The male friendship is more characterized by engaging in group activities so gossip can serve to enhance the bond between individuals within the group,” he said. But in case of females, the friendships ````run deeper````, so gossip can have the opposite effect. Women tend to chat a lot about physical appearance, and this can actually tear their friendship apart. “Female friendships are more characterized by communion or intimacy. Gossip can be more of a threat to the relationship than it does in male friendships,” said Watson. The study that examined gender differences in the relationship between friendship quality and gossip tendency with a sample of 167 female and 69 male Western Canadian undergraduate University students. It used the Friendship questionnaire and the Tendency to Gossip questionnaire and predicted that both the sexes gossip in rather different ways. “Physical appearance gossip was found to be more prevalent in females,” said Watson. “But it doesn````t help with friendship quality. This type of gossip may be a more of a competitive threat to the relationship in females,” he added. ANI