Everybody loves a good story, true or not. We tend to think of gossip as a bad thing, But it isn't always negative. Dr. Mike McKee, a clinical psychologist at Cleveland Clinic, says there are two kinds of gossip.
"It's a good thing to tell people, even people you don't know what's going on, if it's a news kind of situation. If it's not a news situation, if it's making up bad things about somebody else, that's really harmful," he explained.
Recommended Videos
McKee says positive gossip is when you're saying nice things about other people.
he says it can help you to build camaraderie and bond with friends. Hearing "stories" about other people may also teach us how to act, or not to act in certain situations- it can help to keep us in line.
McKee says to be sure you're spreading good gossip all of the time, and always check your facts.
"So, even when you have good intentions, but haven't bothered to check anything out you can be an agent of ill-will, unwittingly, by passing on stories that somebody else has told you that's really juicy and sort of too good to keep to yourself," he added.
McKee says if you're sharing information about someone that you're not sure is true, you're best off keeping it to yourself.