The gossipers believe the person receiving the information will feel privileged. For example, if a husband has confessed a struggle with pornography to his wife, and the wife feels betrayed and wounded as a result, she may tell her friends about it as a way of getting back at her husband. Whatever the reasons, gossip is evil. But this doesn't stop gossipers. Often, they don't even realize the damage they are doing to themselves, their mate and their marriage.
Most people have a stereotypical idea about gossip and gossipers.
Many probably envision housewives gabbing over the back fence about a neighbor's drinking problem. Or you may think of teenage girls exchanging malicious remarks about a classmate over the telephone. These perceptions, however, are not only sexist, they are wrong. Woman are no more likely to gossip then men. Both husbands and wives who are prone to gossip carry some of these common gossip traits.