We analyzed our research questions in various contexts exploiting a wide set of instruments. We used analytical models and agent-based simulations to test the consistency of the connection between micro mechanisms and group level outcomes and developed new theoretical results concerning the relation of gossip, social networks, social norms, and cooperation. We tested hypotheses about the conditions under which communication can be honest, gossip and reputation mechanisms can be reliable, and can support cooperation in decision making experiments. We developed new methodological tools to appropriately analyze the triadic nature of gossip embedded in network flows of information. We utilized longitudinal social network data from primary and secondary school classes, and collected qualitative and quantitative information in organizations to test hypotheses about the determinants and the role of gossip for informal social order in different developmental and social contexts of life. In addition, we applied new communication technologies to explore the hidden world of gossip and the dynamics of reputation in bounded social contexts. We built large corpora of spontaneous informal conversations, manually annotated their content in relation to gossip and cooperation, and tested hypotheses about the prevalence and distinctiveness of gossip in human communication.
We achieved some breakthroughs. No previous data could convincingly support the claim that gossip constitutes a large part of human communication. We confirmed this hypothesis in our large corpora of spontaneous conversations. We highlighted that gossip is distinct from other topics of social enjoyment, such as discussions on food and entertainment. Gossip is detrimental for the construction of reputations about others and provides information not only about the wrong-doing of others, but also on motives, intentions, and beliefs. Gossip is most often honest and is in line with the observed action of targets, hence the reputational information it conveys can typically be considered as reliable. We found evidence that reputation is taken into account when we interact with others. Our findings explain how and under what conditions gossip can be considered as an efficient mechanism that contributes to cooperation and informal social order.
Our project achievements have been published in scientific journals, presented at international conferences, and featured in the general press. Our results have been showcased at outreach events. We organized regular seminars with presentations by academic experts in the field. We played a major role in the organization of scientific events on gossip, reputation, and cooperation, and established ongoing collaborations. We organized a well-attended workshop in May 2018 on Gossip, Reputation, and Honesty in Budapest. Jointly with leading scholars of the field, we organized an international workshop at the Lorentz Center in Leiden on “The Language of Cooperation: Reputation and Honest Signaling” in September 2019. As a follow-up, a special issue in the prestigious journal Philosophical Transactions of Royal Society B is on its way.
