办公室中的谣言八卦心理学

01 办公室中的谣言八卦心理学

办公室里的八卦和谣言如同角落中的灰尘，它无处不在，但人们总是有意或无意地忽视它。八卦和谣言如何影响到了我们的办公室生活？

八卦和谣言是办公室生活的一部分——它们让人们获得娱乐和信息，让人际关系更密切，但它们也能败坏名声、摧毁信任，造成不良心态，甚至降低生产率。

结果有益的八卦和谣言与结果有害的，其区别在于背后的意图，信息给人何种印象、促成何种行动，以及信息被允许传播和发酵的时长。

除了提供非正式交流网络，八卦和谣言为人们眼中的不公和权力不平衡，或者嫉妒、怨恨、无聊，乃至仇恨等情感提供了心理空间。当人们无法与一个问题或者一个人正面对抗的时候，与同事闲聊成为了一种发泄郁闷的方式。

谣言背后的焦虑与恐惧

People's anxieties heighten at times of change and uncertainty, such as when an organisation restructures, changes leadership or undertakes a merger or acquisition.Such situations lead people to worry about how they will be affected.Who will be promoted or demoted, whose job will disappear or be changed, and who will be paid what?

出现改变和不确定性的时期，比如组织发生重组、领导人变更或进行并购时，人们的焦虑情绪会增强。这些状况会使人们担心自己将受到何种影响。谁会得到晋升或者被降职，谁会失去饭碗或者职位发生变动，谁的薪酬又会是多少？

In the absence of adequate information from management, people naturally create narratives to fill the void.The longer executives take to make decisions, the more anxious people become and the more rumours fill the vacuum and make sense of the uncertainty.

在管理层公布的信息不足的情况下，人们会自然而然地提出各种说法来填补这一空白。高管们做决策花的时间越长，人们就会越焦虑，就越会有更多谣言来填补真空，试图为这种不确定找到合理解释。

Nicholas DiFonzo, professor of psychology at Rochester Institute of Technology and co-author of Rumor Psychology , says: “The common denominator seems to be fear — we're afraid of what this person in the organisation will do to us; we're afraid of how [the]engineering [department]is going to get more money and we in marketing are going to get less money; we're afraid of what this rival company is doing — and so we spread rumours about them.”

罗彻斯特理工学院心理学教授、《谣言心理学》的合著者尼古拉斯·迪丰佐(Nicholas DiFonzo)表示：“共同的要素似乎是恐惧——我们担心组织里的这个人会对我们做什么；我们担心工程（部）将得到更多资金，而我们市场部的人得到的资金将会变少；我们害怕对手公司正在做的事情——因此我们传播关于它们的谣言。”

Studies have shown that while rumours reduce trust in management and harm the attitudes of staff, they do not necessarily affect productivity.

研究表明，尽管谣言降低了员工对管理层的信任，对员工的心态造成了不良影响，但谣言并不一定会影响生产率。

Prof DiFonzo explains: “If I hear rumours about my company being downsized and [the]management won't talk to me, there's a great deal of uncertainty.I may feel worse about [the]management, I may trust them less, but I may work harder so that if there is a downsizing I will be retained.”

迪丰佐教授解释道：“如果我听到谣言说公司正在精简人员，而管理层不置可否，事情就有很大的不确定性。我可能会对管理层感觉更糟，我可能更加不信任他们，但我可能会更努力工作，这样假如公司真的在精简人员，我会被留下来。”

八卦如何影响我们

Gossip, as opposed to rumour, is often about social networking and bonding and can be entertaining, irresistible and even witty.Because it is so pleasurable, people tend not to consider the harm it causes.

和谣言不同的是，八卦通常与社交网络和人际关系相关。八卦可以是富有娱乐性、不可抗拒，甚至诙谐的。因为八卦如此令人愉悦，人们往往不考虑八卦引起的害处。

Although positive gossip occurs, it is the negative gossip most people enjoy more because it makes us feel better about ourselves and reassures us, because we are not the subject of it.

尽管正面的八卦是存在的，但大多数人更喜欢负面八卦，因为这种八卦让我们自我感觉更良好，更自信，因为我们不是被八卦的对象。

There are many motives for malicious gossip.Projecting our own feelings of inadequacy on others by putting them down rids us of our bad feelings and makes us feel superior.Gossip allows us to retaliate against perceived unfairness, act out passive-aggressive and envious feelings and redress power imbalances.People revert to gossip when they believe they cannot confront an issue directly.

人们有很多动机进行恶意的八卦。通过贬低他人，我们把自身的不足感投射到他们身上，让我们摆脱不好的感觉，产生优越感。八卦让我们报复我们眼中的不公，用行动表达我们的消极抵抗情绪和嫉妒感，纠正权力失衡。当人们相信自己无法与一个问题正面对抗时，就会诉诸八卦。

A woman who came to me for psychotherapy related how a colleague who was also a friend denied she was having an affair with the boss despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.The betrayal she felt was aggravated by feelings of unfairness, powerlessness and distrust because of privileges her colleague was enjoying as a result.Because she could not confront either party directly, she joined in the office gossip to clear her confusion, but primarily to have an outlet for her feelings.

一个找我进行心理治疗的女性向我讲述，她的同事兼朋友否认其与老板有染，但有可信证据指向相反的事实。她的同事因此享受了种种特权，这使这位女性产生了不公、无力和不信任感，加重了她遭受背叛的感觉。当事双方都是她无法直接对抗的。因此她加入了办公室八卦，以搞清楚到底是怎么回事。但从根本上说，这样做是为了发泄她自己的情绪。

There is a positive element to gossip, though.It acts as a safety valve for grievances, allowing pent-up feelings to be released in a way that minimises potential damage.Rushing to a quiet corner with a colleague for a whispered rant is preferable to a flare-up with your boss.

不过，八卦也有积极作用。八卦可以作为疏导不满的安全阀，让压抑的情绪用一种最大限度减少潜在伤害的方式释放出来。和一个同事冲到一个僻静的角落低声抱怨，总比冲着你老板发火更可取。

词汇总结

malicious [mə'lɪʃəs]

adj.怀有恶意的；恶毒的

There are many motives for malicious gossip.

人们有很多动机进行恶意的八卦。

retaliate aganist 报复；反击；复仇

Gossip allows us to retaliate against perceived unfairness, act out passive-aggressive and envious feelings and redress power imbalances.

八卦让我们报复我们眼中的不公，用行动表达我们的消极抵抗情绪和嫉妒感，纠正权力失衡。

pent-up 压抑的；积压的

It acts as a safety valve for grievances, allowing pent-up feelings to be released in a way that minimises potential damage.

八卦可以作为疏导不满的安全阀，让压抑的情绪用一种最大限度减少潜在伤害的方式释放出来。

revert to 重提,回到,恢复(先前的话题或主题)

People revert to gossip when they believe they cannot confront an issue directly.

当人们相信自己无法与一个问题正面对抗时，就会诉诸八卦。

aggravate[ægrəveɪt]

v.使严重；使恶化

The betrayal she felt was aggravated by feelings of unfairness, powerlessness and distrust because of privileges her colleague was enjoying as a result.

她的同事因此享受了种种特权，这使这位女性产生了不公、无力和不信任感，加重了她遭受背叛的感觉。