This study examined children and adolescents' perceptions of trustworthiness about peers who shared gossip. Participants (N = 134, ages 8–16 years) completed vignettes from the gossip listener's perspective and evaluated how trustworthy the sharer was. The main findings revealed that a classmate gossiping negatively about the listener's friend was considered less trustworthy than the other relationship type conditions. Furthermore, in negative gossip scenarios, the sharer was rated more trustworthy when gossiping about the target's behavior that affected another person compared to an action only affecting themselves. Finally, compared to children, adolescents rated their friend who gossiped about another friend more trustworthy. This study helps in understanding to what extent children and adolescents trust individuals to provide them with important social information.

中文翻译：

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我能信任你吗？孩子们对八卦的朋友和同学的看法

这项研究调查了儿童和青少年对分享八卦的同龄人的可信度的看法。参与者 ( N = 134，年龄 8-16 岁）从八卦听众的角度完成小插曲，并评估分享者的可信度。主要发现表明，与其他关系类型条件相比，同学对听众朋友的负面八卦被认为不太值得信赖。此外，在负面八卦场景中，与仅影响自己的行为相比，当八卦目标影响他人的行为时，分享者被评为更值得信赖。最后，与儿童相比，青少年认为他们八卦另一个朋友的朋友更值得信赖。这项研究有助于了解儿童和青少年在多大程度上信任个人向他们提供重要的社会信息。