Gossip
L ess directly linked to forensic psychology but with a little mental gymnastics we will eventually get there too. People gossip and we can't escape that. Sometimes we don't know, sometimes we do and when we do, it is perhaps something that we might decide to manage in some way, although it is not easy when the speed of rumour is the only thing faster than the speed of light. Celerity is not the mother of good fortune. Why do people gossip? If you wanted to take a harsh route to understand it, it might be that you conclude that their own lives are so dull and empty that they have to experience something by talking about, surmising about, others' lives. You might decide that it is an attempt to lower your status as you are considered some kind of threat to some people and you are such a threat and they want your power (although research suggests that people who gossip are regarded as less powerful - the irony is delightful) and that you have a special place in those people...