The co-evolution of informal social status and gossip in workplace social networks

Abstract

This study examines the co-evolution of informal social status and the three positions in a gossip triad – gossip senders, receivers, and objects – in the workplace. Two different social mechanisms are proposed to explain these interrelationships, suggesting relationships between gossip and informal social status in the opposite direction. First, the social bonding perspective suggests that gossip bonds between actors in a gossip triad shape their informal social status. Second, the social capital perspective indicates that employees’ informal social status leads to their position within gossip triads. The hypotheses are tested in a three-wave social network study among employees in a Dutch childcare organization. Results of stochastic actor-oriented models indicate a co-evolution between informal social status and the receiver's role in a gossip triad, but not with the roles of sender and object. Contrary to what the social capital perspective predicts, employees’ informal social status negatively affects receiving gossip over time. In line with the social bonding perspective, receiving gossip positively affects informal social status over time. The co-evolution process suggests that over time, an equilibrium may emerge where an employee's informal social status stabilizes at a point where enough gossip is received to sustain their social position. We conclude that the previously often neglected receivers of third-party information should be considered when examining the dynamics of workplace gossip.