Individual differences in attitudes toward gossip

Jordan A. Litman, Mark V. Pezzo

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Four studies were conducted to develop and validate a measure of individual differences in attitudes towards gossip (ATG). In Study 1, exploratory factor analyses of responses to a pool of ATG items identified two factors reflecting attitudes about gossip_s Social Value (SV) and Moral Value (MV), which provided the basis for constructing a 12-item ATG scale. In Study 2, the SV and MV factors were verified with confirmatory analysis. In Studies 3 and 4, the construct validity of the ATG scale was evidenced by (1) the ability of the SV subscale to predict interest in and intent to transmit gossip, (2) positive correlations with the Tendency to Gossip Questionnaire (Nevo, Nevo, & Derech-Zehavi, 1994) and (3) negative correlations with social approval needs.

Original languageAmerican English
JournalDefault journal
StatePublished - Jan 1 2005

Keywords

  • Scale development
  • Extraversion
  • Interpersonal curiosity
  • Rumor
  • Gossip

Disciplines

  • Psychology

Cite this