Most of us are advised that gossiping about coworkers can lead to tension or friction between members of a team. But a new study says that a little gossip might actually help improve the workplace.

The finding showed that small amounts of gossip allowed groups to identify problem coworkers, for example if a particular member was excessively selfish, they'd be singled-out fairly quickly:

Groups that allow their members to gossip sustain cooperation and deter selfishness better than those that don't. And groups do even better if they can gossip and ostracize untrustworthy members. While both of these behaviors can be misused, our findings suggest that they also serve very important functions for groups and society.

Of course, trash-talking people out of spite or to simply pick a fight won't do much to help morale. But talking with your coworkers or bosses about problems in the workplace not only helps keep the lines of communication open, but strengthens the bond between other members of the group.

The downside is that it'll majorly suck for the subject of the office gossip.

[PsyBlog]