McAndrew Gossip Research Featured.

Roland Griffith

25 November 2008

Following contemporary publication of a systematic article, "Who do we tell, and whom do we tell on? Gossip as a methodology for standing enhancement," McAndrew's research was discussed during Jay Leno's speech on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" on Fri. , July twenty. McAndrew also was interviewed by NBC, and a short lived clip from the interview was broadcast on "The Today Show" on Wed. , July twenty-five. His research also was featured on the MSNBC internet site. "For almost all of our evolutionary history, we lived in little groups, where it might be advantageous for an individual to have any interest in everybody else in the group -- the excellent news about our mates and allies, and the bad news about high-ranking individuals and potential rivals.". Subjects were asked about different gossip eventualities -- when and about whom they'd pass on gossip. According to McAndrew, the evolutionary basis for gossip also explains why we consume celebrity gossip. "If I am searching for info about a high-ranking person, I want stuff that I should use to climb a little closer to this person or perhaps drag them down to my level. For example, if I learn a high-status person has been hurt, that is valuable information.". McAndrew asserted "The Today Show" at first needed to do a live interview in the Big Apple Town on Wed. , but he had to tape it on campus previously, on Tues. afternoon, as he was traveling on Wed. with a bunch of Knox scholars who are giving presentations at the once a year meeting of the Ronald E McNair Research Program in Niagara Falls, NY. The article in the Book of Applied Social Psychology was co-wrote with 2 of his previous scholars, Emily Bell and Maria Garcia. Bell graduated from Knox in 2004 and is now at the MIND Institute at the College of New Mexico. Garcia graduated from Knox in 2002 and is a graduate student at National-Louis School in Chicago. McAndrew has released numerous works in environmental and evolutionary psychology, many co-wrote with his scholars. An affiliate of the Knox faculty since 1979, he is the Cornelia H Dudley Professor of Psychology. McAndrew graduated from King's Varsity of Pennsylvania and earned his doctorate at the College of Maine. Set up in 1837, Knox is a state liberal humanities university in Galesburg, Illinois, with scholars from forty five states and 44 states.

Knox's "Old Main" is a Countrywide Important Landmark and the sole building remaining from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas discusses. A camera operator for the Today Show ( left ) adjusts lighting for an interview with Professor Frank McAndrew.