Sometimes, Bad Things On Others Fascinate Us

A new research has revealed why people are more interested in negative gossip about someone than positive things- such as talks of Arnold Schwarzenegger's alleged love child or the

London, May 23 (ANI): A new research has revealed why people are more interested in negative gossip about someone than positive things- such as talks of Arnold Schwarzenegger's alleged love child or the latest steamy details in the 'IMF sex scandal'.

They found that our brains compel us to stare longer at someone's face if we've heard something negative about them, reports the Daily Mail.

Research Says Nasty Gossips About People Make Their Faces More Recognizable
Hearing something bad about someone i.e. negative gossip could make that person's face more recognizable than hearing positive or neutral gossip, say researchers.

To reach their conclusions, scientists showed study participants pictures of ordinary-looking strangers, paired with 'social information' that was either positive, negative or neutral.

Negative info included such phrases as 'She is a cheater', and 'She threw a chair at somebody'.

Then the researchers showed the same pictures in a 'binocular rivalry' test, in which they showed each eye a different picture.

Anti-bullying Program Reduces Gossip Among School Children
A recent study has pointed out that a widely used anti-bullying program reduces nasty gossip among elementary school children.

It turned out that people tended to spend much more time concentrating on the image associated with negative information, versus one paired with positive or neutral information.

The study appears in the latest issue of the peer-reviewed journal 'Science'. (ANI)

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Source-ANI

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