Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe CHICAGO, July 11 (UPI) -- Boston and Chicago researchers say office gossip encourages staff bonding and can help increase productivity on the job. Jack Levin, who studies gossip at Boston's Northeastern University, said gossip is not always about damaging information, the Chicago Tribune reported. Levin said people talk about promotions, pregnancies and other positive topics just as much as they talk about their co-workers mistakes. Advertisement Levin said gossip creates alliances that make co-workers closer and can provide key information for getting ahead. University of Chicago professor Ron Burt said gossip also encourages slackers to pick up the pace, the newspaper said. If rumors begin to spread about one person's lack of dedication or poor production, that individual may put in extra hours just to prove the gossips wrong. "Nobody wants to be at the bottom of the list," Burt told the Tribune. "If that means staying late, coming in on the weekends, working extra so your reputation reflects that, it's what you do to fit into the social structure."
