Rumor has it...

General Purpose: We are informing our audience about the causes and effects of rumors and how to prevent it.

Specific Purpose: After my speech, my audience will be able to be more familiar with the psychological effects rumors have upon people

Thesis Statement: Even though people view rumors as fun and juicy information to be spread, they are in reality very demoralizing to people and most of the time untrue.

I. Introduction “We have all participated in gossip. The ability to gossip is in each one of us and has a great impact on ourselves and the people around us. It can be used in good faith or it can be used to drive people over the edge and sad to say, but even harm themselves.” We have gone in depth on the multiple views on gossip. The research has been done and we found great articles on the research of gossip through Google Scholar. Even though people view rumors as fun and juicy information to be spread, they are in reality very demoralizing to people and most of the time untrue. We will look into how gossip can actually be not only negative, but also positive, how gossip differs between males and females, and how to prevent gossip.

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II. (Psychological) Gossip and Rumors are good because they help us bond with our friends. They teach us lessons and keep us in line. The negative side of gossip and rumors are that they cause psychological problems and physical as well. They also lead our kids to horrible futures.

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III. (Gender Differences Male vs Female)
Most men do not share an intense desire for verbal communication. They tend to be more physical and confrontational. Now with women, usually when estrogen is on the rise teen girls brain is pushed to make even more oxytocin and get more reinforcement od social bonding. Females often get a “high” or in other words pleasure from connecting (bonding) when gossiping. The purpose of gossiping for women is to be more emotionally connected. They talk mostly about close friends and family members. There was a study done at the University of California at Santa Cruz done to examine to conversations between 25, female/female pairs, 19 male/male pairs, and 24 male/female pairs where gossip was analyzed. There was more gossip that was encouraged than discouraging and neutral. When it came to male/female there were no gender differences. Females were more likely to use/ encourage gossip. Negative gossip was more likely to occur between the female/female pairs than the male/male and male/female pairs. Among the female/female pairs only, there was more negative gossip than positive.

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IV. (Prevention/Putting a stop to rumors)
A. (supporting material)
B. (supporting material)

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V. Conclusion People will view gossip as demoralizing and when it is untrue, it may seem fun to the people causing it, but the effects can be quite hurtful and there is no telling what can happen to victims of gossip. We looked at the different aspects of male and female viewpoints on gossip. We even dove deep into the mind of people and saw the positive and negative psychological effects. Tips on ways to prevent harmful gossip were given. Gossip is a way people communicate and get the word around. Its a way to spread stories and/ or rumors. It is viewed as fun and a way to get through the day and conversations, but it is frowned upon especially if the only thing that is being spread is false information about you or somebody else. We all have participated in gossip one way or another. We have all