Do gossips gossip in order to turn the spotlight on themselves rather than on the person they're gossiping about?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schadenfreude

Umm…in my case I wouldn’t’ say it was taking pleasure in my misfortune. I would say it was more of a chance to get attention turned upon himself because of my misfortune.

Because if they don’t gossip what the hell should they do now?

I mean those too-bored-and-have-nothing-to-do type

Plus to put everyone else down since they probably feel that they are so low, so they try to get everyone on their level. Then, it is also an issue of “the devil finds work for idle hands.”

I don’t know why. I mean, we all do it to a certain extent but some people don’t know where to stop and seem to relish in it. Maybe it is them trying to compensate for their own shortcomings. If they keep the spotlight on other people, it won’t be on them.

@SecondHandStoke What I find odd about that article is most of the people doing the gossiping from my experience are usually considered to be the most socially adept, extroverted and seemingly confident folks. The people who tend to stay silent during gossiping fests, or at least don’t partake in it, tend to be the most introverted, socially inept, and least confident people.

The article cited that usually those with the lowest amounts of self-esteem usually are more likely to feel schadenfreude than those with higher self-esteem. This makes me wonder if many people whom are deemed as being ‘confident’ are really just putting up facades, or have too little motivations in their own lives.

@Dutchess_III Actually I believe gossip is all about turning the spotlight on one’s self, at least most of the time. The only difference here is that instead of feeling they have anything proud of concerning themselves, they become dependent on degraded others.

I don’t always feel gossip and schadenfreude is about low self-esteem though. Some people seem to think too highly of themselves, and tend to put others down who don’t live up to their standards. Perhaps with the latter type of person they partake in the gossip, or initiate it merely for kicks.