*Abstract:* Gossip or evaluative talk about others is ubiquitous. Gossip
allows important rules to be clarified and reinforced, and individuals to
keep track of their social network while strengthening their bonds to the
group (Fine, 1977; Foster, 2004). Gossip is especially prevalent on college
campuses; it provides an ideal environment to understand how gossip affects
friend groups. Participants were recruited from Men’s and Women’s Crew
Teams at a small liberal arts college. Using social network analysis, we
found that the crew members’ friend group connectedness significantly
correlated with their positive and negative gossip network involvements.
The more one was connected among friends, the less they were involved in
spreading negative gossip and/or being the target of negative gossip. The
more central one was connected among friends, the more they were also
involved in spreading positive gossip and/or being the target of positive
gossip.
