ORIGINAL RESEARCH
published: 12 Feb ua y 2018
doi: 10.3389/ psyg.2018.00126
F on ie s in Psychology | www. on ie sin.o g 1Feb ua y 2018 | Volume 9 | A icle 126
Edi ed by:
Va un Du ,
Indian Ins i u e o Technology Mandi,
India
Re iewed by:
Michelle Hood,
G i i h Uni e si y, Aus alia
Da id Ál a ez-Ga cía,
Uni e sidad de O iedo Mie es, Spain
*Co espondence:
E a M. Rome a
[email p o ec ed]
Special y sec ion:
This a icle was submi ed o
Cogni i e Science,
a sec ion o he jou nal
F on ie s in Psychology
Recei ed: 31 Augus 2017
Accep ed: 25 Janua y 2018
Published: 12 Feb ua y 2018
Ci a ion:
Rome a EM, He e a-López M,
Casas JA, O ega Ruiz R and Del
Rey R (2018) How Much Do
Adolescen s Cybe gossip? Scale
De elopmen and Valida ion in Spain
and Colombia. F on . Psychol. 9:126.
doi: 10.3389/ psyg.2018.00126
How Much Do Adolescen s
Cybe gossip? Scale De elopmen
and Valida ion in Spain and Colombia
E a M. Rome a1*, Mau icio He e a-López2, José A. Casas1, Rosa io O ega Ruiz1,3 and
Rosa io Del Rey4
1Depa men o Psychology, Uni e sidad de Có doba, Có doba, Spain, 2Depa men o Psychology, Uni e sidad de Na iño,
San Juan de Pas o, Colombia, 3Depa men o Psychology, Social Wo k and Counselling, Uni e si y o G eenwich, London,
Uni ed Kingdom, 4Depa men o De elopmen and Educa ional Psychology, Uni e sidad de Se illa, Se ille, Spain
Cybe gossip is he ac o wo o mo e people making e alua i e commen s ia digi al
de ices abou somebody who is no p esen . This cybe beha io a ec s he social
g oup in which i occu s and can ei he p omo e o hinde pee ela ionships. Scien i ic
s udies ha assess he na u e o his eme ging and in e ac i e beha io in he i ual
wo ld a e limi ed. Some esea ch on adi ional gossip has iden i ied i as an inhe en
and de ining elemen o indi ec ela ional agg ession. This pape adop s and a gues
o a wide de ini ion o gossip ha includes posi i e commen s and mo i a ions. This
wo k also sugges s ha cybe gossip has o be measu ed independen ly om adi ional
gossip due o key di e ences when i occu s h ough ICT. This pape p esen s he
Colombian and Spanish alida ion o he Cybe gossip Ques ionnai e o Adolescen s
(CGQ-A), in ol ing 3,747 high school s uden s (M=13.98 yea s old, SD =1.69;
48.5% male), o which 1,931 we e Colombian and 1,816 we e Spanish. Tes models
de i ed om i em esponse heo y, con i ma o y ac o analysis, con en alida ion, and
mul i-g oup analysis we e un on he ull sample and subsamples o each coun y
and bo h gende s. The ob ained op imal i and psychome ic p ope ies con i m he
obus ness and sui abili y o a one-dimensional s uc u e o he cybe gossip ins umen .
The mul i-g oup analysis shows ha he cybe gossip cons uc is unde s ood simila ly in
bo h coun ies and be ween gi ls and boys. The composi e eliabili y a i ies con e gen
and di e gen alidi y o he scale. Desc ip i e esul s show ha Colombian adolescen s
gossip less han hei Spanish coun e pa s and ha boys and gi ls use cybe gossip
o he same ex en . As a conclusion, his s udy con i mes he ela ionship be ween
cybe gossip and cybe bullying, bu i also suppo s a ocus on posi i e cybe gossip in
psychoeduca ional in e en ions o build posi i e i ual ela ionships and p e en isky
cybe beha io s.
Keywo ds: gossip, cybe gossip, adolescence, sel - epo , psychome ic p ope ies, gende , c oss-cul u al
Rome a e al. Cybe gossip in Adolescence
INTRODUCTION
Gossip
Gossip is de ined as a ype o e alua i e con e sa ion abou
somone else who is no p esen (Ede and Enke, 1991; Fos e ,
2004). These con e sa ions ha e a si ua ional na u e, as he
message emission and in e p e a ion depend on he con ex
in which hey a e p oduced (We and Salo ey, 2004). Gossip
is a widesp ead and epea ed p ac ice, o which a g ea pa
o daily con e sa ions is usually de o ed (Dunba e al., 1997;
Le in and A luke, 2013). Gossip has and had a bad epu a ion
h oughou ime and ac oss cul u es because i is conside ed as
sel -se ing and seen o be ca ied ou o maliciously manipula e
he imp essions he hea e s ha e abou a hi d pe son (Goodman
and Ben-Ze’e , 1994). Ne e heless, some e idence exis s o he
posi i e e ec s o gossip (Baumeis e e al., 2004; Dunba , 2004;
Alexand o e al., 2013).
Resea ch on he posi i e side o gossip has mainly ocused
on i s g oup-se ing unc ions. I has been said ha i can be
use ul o in o m membe s o he g oup abou i s no ms and
sanc ions (G osse e al., 2010), o p o ec he g oup om hose
who b eak he ules (Bee sma and Van Klee , 2011; Feinbe g
e al., 2014), o in luence i s membe s’ epu a ion (Gia dini, 2012)
and o s eng hen social links wi hin he g oup (Dunba , 2004).
Seen his way, gossip p omo es he common good (Bee sma
and Van Klee , 2012), and cons ains sel -se ing beha io s ha
could damage he g oup gi en he in luence i may ha e on
membe s’ epu a ion and inclusion (Bee sma and Van Klee ,
2011). Indi idual bene i s ha e also been asc ibed o hose who
ecei e gossip, as i allows ob aining e alua i e in o ma ion abou
o he s ha can se e as a e e ence wi h which o e alua e onesel
(We and Salo ey, 2004). In pa icula , gossip has been shown o
inc ease one’s sel -imp o emen alue, an impo an dimension
o sel -e alua ion (Ma inescu e al., 2014). This bene i e lec s
he lea ning unc ion o gossip, p omo ing impo an social
lea ning abou how o achie e success o a oid ailu e in speci ic
social si ua ions (Baumeis e e al., 2004). In his con ex , posi i e
gossip is aluable o he indi idual because i p o ides a model o
imi a e (Li man and Pezzo, 2005). The ad ances in his line di ec
owa d he necessi y o making he gossipe s’ mo al delibe a ion
explici o egula e he ela ionships and gene a e a g ea e
con idence (Pe e s and Kashima, 2015).
In addi ion o p o iding in o ma ion, in luence, and
s eng hen g oup bonds, gossip also has a g a i ying indi idual
unc ion: en e ainmen (Fos e , 2004). Wha di e en ia es
gossip om social cu iosi y—a ela ed ype o beha io —is i s
objec i e. While gossip p edominan ly has an en e ainmen
pu pose, social cu iosi y is mainly di ec ed a ob aining
in o ma ion abou o he people (Ha ung and Renne , 2013).
Gossip, Cybe gossip, and Cybe bullying
A ecen s udy wi h mo e han 55,000 adolescen s om 20
di e en coun ies shows he widesp ead use o ICT in social
communica ion and i s impo ance in social and pe sonal
de elopmen (A eepa amannil and Khine, 2017). Al hough
he e is gene al awa eness o ICT’s impo ance in adolescen
ela ionships, he numbe o s udies on cybe gossip is limi ed
(Oluwole, 2009; Laghi e al., 2013; Sub amanian, 2013).
Mo eo e , mos o he s udies ha do exis ha e aken place
wi hin he ield o compu e science (e.g., Apolloni e al., 2013),
and only a ew ha e come o h om he psychology sphe e (e.g.,
Gab iels and De Backe , 2016).
Cybe gossip is he equi alen o gossip in he i ual wo ld,
bu bo h phenomena mus be s udied in di e en ways, as he
con ex s in which hey ake place di e and ma e . Fi s , ace- o-
ace gossip makes use o e bal language, whils cybe gossip can
ake he o m o w i en messages, images, and ideos. Second,
cybe gossip messages a e eco ded and can be ep oduced
exac ly as o iginally c ea ed, which may in luence wha is
sha ed in he i s place (Be olo i and Magnani, 2013). Thi d,
cybe gossip has he po en ial o each a wide audience, a any
ime, and ins an aneously. Fou h, gi en he limi ed p osodic,
pa alinguis ic, and ex alinguis ic elemen s ha can be used
in i ual communica ion, i is ha de o bo h he sende
o con ey he social in en ion behind he message and o
he ecipien o ecognize i (Ca e a and Pelayo, 2002). This
inc eases he possibili y o misunde s andings, which can lead o
cybe agg ession and cybe ic imizing beha io s and he e o e o
cybe bullying (Del Rey e al., 2015).
I is also impo an o di e en ia e be ween cybe gossip and
cybe bullying. Gossip’s nega i e po en ial has led nume ous
s udies o iden i y i as an indi ec o m o pee g oup agg ession
ha has he aim o manipula e ano he ’s epu a ion o achie e
his/he exclusion om he g oup (A che and Coyne, 2005).
Ne e heless, a clea in en ion o damaging he o he is no
necessa ily p esen in cybe gossip, while i is in cybe bullying
(Tokunaga, 2010). The e o e, while ela ed, gossip, cybe gossip,
and cybe bullying a e no di ec ly compa able and mus be
s udied wi h ools app op ia ely designed o each o hese
phenomena.
The Need o Cybe gossip Scales o
Adolescen s
Despi e he di e ences be ween he phenomena, wo k on
cybe gossip should ake esea ch in o i s o -line e sion as a
s a ing poin . Gossip has been widely s udied and wi h di e en
esea ch me hodologies. As an h opology is he dominan ield
o he s udy o gossip, obse a ional echniques ha e been
mos commonly used (Fos e , 2004), bu his is p oblema ic.
Con idence and disc e ion a e wo ac o s ha in luence gossip
(Gluckman, 1963) and hese condi ions a e di icul o gua an ee
in expe imen al and obse a ional s udies. Sel - epo s udies
do no iola e hese condi ions due o hei anonymous and
e ospec i e na u e, and he e o e, despi e d awbacks which a e
mainly ela ed o he isk o ob aining socially desi able answe s,
o m he ideal me hodology o he measu emen o gossip
(B ady e al., 2017). While he need o such quan i a i e s udies
has been iden i ied (Noon and Delb idge, 1993), o da e, e y ew
exis , and he sca ce scales ha a e a ailable ha e a numbe o
limi a ions. Se e al scales oo na owly de ine gossip as a nega i e
beha io and e en as an indi ec mode o agg ession. Examples
a e he Di ec and Indi ec Agg ession Scale (DIAS) (Bjö kq is
e al., 1992) and he Indi ec /Social/Rela ional Agg ession scale
F on ie s in Psychology | www. on ie sin.o g 2Feb ua y 2018 | Volume 9 | A icle 126
Rome a e al. Cybe gossip in Adolescence
(ISRA) (Coyne e al., 2006). In hese examples gossip is equa ed
wi h expanding umo s and measu ed using only one i em
(commen ing badly abou o he s). O he ins umen s ha do
de ine gossip mo e widely, including bo h he posi i e and he
nega i e po en ial, ocus on speci ic aspec s, such as he con en
o he message (Ne o e al., 1993) a i udes owa d gossip (Li man
and Pezzo, 2005), mo i a ions behind gossip (Bee sma and Van
Klee , 2012), and unc ions o gossip (Fos e , 2004), bu hey do
no measu e he equency o he beha io i sel (B ady e al.,
2017). A inal limi a ion o he la e g oup o scales is he lack o
Eu opean and La in Ame ican samples used in hei alida ion.
Below, se e al exis ing ins umen s a e desc ibed in a bi mo e
de ail.
The widely known Tendency Gossip Ques ionnai e (Ne o e al.,
1993) was alida ed in a s udy wi h 120 Is aeli college s uden s.
I consis s o a 7-poin equency scale o 19 i ems ha assess
he con en o con e sa ions (physical appea ance, achie emen ,
social in o ma ion, and sublima ed gossip). This scale has been
c i icized o ha ing oo ew i ems wi h which o measu e he
wide con en a iabili y possible in gossip (Li man and Pezzo,
2005).
The Gossip Func ions Ques ionnai e (Fos e , 2004) measu es
ag eemen wi h 24 s a emen s ela ed o he ou basic unc ions
ha gossip is said o ha e: in o ma ion p o ision, c ea ion o
iendship, a ainmen o in luence, and en e ainmen . Mo e
esea ch ocussing on hese unc ions has subsequen ly aken
place wi h English speaking coun ies (USA, Canada, Aus alia,
Uni ed Kingdom, I eland and New Zealand) (Wa son, 2011;
Ha ung and Renne , 2013), bu bo h he o iginal scale and he
subsequen wo k ail o conside ha gossip is subjec o he
con ex in which i happens (Paine, 1967) and ha i is no a s a e
( ai ) o ap i ude.
The Mo i es o Gossip Ques ionnai e (Bee sma and Van Klee ,
2012), alida ed wi h uni e si y s uden s in he Ne he lands, does
include con ex o some ex en : 22 s a emen s e e ing o speci ic
beha io s and g ouped in ou dimensions (in o m, en e ain,
in luence, and mee ing he no ms o he g oup) we e p esen ed o
unde g adua e s uden s, and he easons o ge ing in ol ed in
hei la es gossip expe ience we e assessed. The d awback o his
ins umen is ha i only assesses he esponden s’ la es gossip
e en and no he equency o he beha io . Ano he c i icism
is ha i s in luence dimension is solely nega i e, being ela ed o
indi ec agg ession. S i ling’s (1956) and Fos e ’s (2004) o iginal
s udies ecognize he e can also be a posi i e side o he in luence
dimension, which is ela ed o he lea ning o he g oup’s cul u e
and no ms.
B ady e al. (2017) ecen ly alida ed he Wo kplace Gossip
scale wi h wo k-expe ienced Canadian s uden s, which does
include he equency wi h which gossip is ca ied ou and
he eby claim his s udy helps esol e he lack o gene ali y o
he cons uc and he possible measu emen bias om which
p e ious s udies su e ed. While his is indeed a good s ep
o wa d, i s ocus on he wo k en i onmen , wi h i s speci ic
issues and dimensions, mean i migh no be as ele an o o he
con ex s.
The scales discussed abo e ha e all been designed and
alida ed o (young) adul s. Fo child en and adolescen s, gossip
esea ch exis s mainly in he o m o na a i e and obse a ional
s udies, and hese app oach gossip om he same na ow
nega i e angle o indi ec ag ession aimed a damaging o he s
(Xie e al., 2005) as some o he s udies ha ocus on adul s.
Resul s om e olu i e s udies show ha as boys and gi ls g ow
up, hey inc easinly demons a e indi ec agg essi e beha io s,
such as gossip, o ic imize hei pee s (A che and Coyne, 2005).
In e hnog aphic s udies, adolescen gi ls a e said o gossip mo e
han boys wi h he aim o keep hei social s a us (Me en,
1997). This iew on he ela ionship be ween gende and gossip—
unde s ood in i s malignan e sion—is con i med in a e iew by
McAnd ew (2014). On he o he hand, me a-analyses on gende
di e ences in indi ec agg ession, including gossip, do no ind a
consis en ela ionship (A che , 2004; Ca d e al., 2008).
Resea ch in o child en and adolescen s needs o adop he
me hodological ad ances ha we e made in he s udy o gossip
among adul s, and include i s posi i e po en ial o ansmi
unde s anding o g oup no ms and see i as pa o he se o
socially compe en beha io s (McDonald e al., 2007). I also
needs o e lec he changes in in e ac ion and social ela ionships
b ough abou by ICT (Lee e al., 2016). Examples o scales ha
ha e ocussed on online beha io s among adolescen s and
ha co e cybe gossip a e he Cybe -agg ession Ques ionnai e
o Adolescen s (CYBA) (Ál a ez-Ga cía e al., 2016) and he
Eu opean Cybe bullying In e en ion P ojec Ques ionnai e
(ECIPQ) (Del Rey e al., 2015). Howe e , hese su e om he
same limi a ion as some o he o -line gossip scales, in ha
hey ea cybe gossip as a o m o cybe agg ession and do no
include posi i e o ms o gossip. A ocus on gossip in i s wide
sense is especially ele an in adolescence, because a his s age
ela ionship s yles a e consolida ed. Iden i ying and desc ibing
he beha io s ha cha ac e ize hese ela ionship s yles is o
g ea esea ch in e es because hey p edic impo an aspec s
o social and pe sonal unc ioning in adul hood (Pe y and
Paule i, 2011). This a gumen is s eng hened by indings om
Engelmann e al. (2016), who obse ed posi i e e ec s o gossip
al eady in childhood.
To p o ide in he need o a cybe gossip ins umen
o child en he Cybe gossip Ques ionnai e-P ima y scale was
designed and alida ed o schoolchild en aged 10–12 (López-
P adas e al., 2017). I was designed o mee he abo emen ioned
needs ela ing o measu emen , de ini ion and he ole o ICT.
The ins umen includes nine ypes o beha io s co e ing he
ou unc ions o gossip (in luence, en e ainmen , in o ma ion,
and iendship). Valida ion showed he scale has he op imal
psychome ic p ope ies o s udy cybe gossip among p ima y
school child en, bu , o da e, no such scale exis s o adolescen s.
The P esen S udy
The i s objec i e o his s udy was o alida e he Cybe gossip
Ques ionnai e-P ima y scale (López-P adas e al., 2017) o use
among adolescen s as well. A sepa a e cybe bullying scale was
used o analyse he disc iminan alida ion o he cybe gossip
scale. The s udy used samples om wo coun ies in di e en
egions, Spain and Colombia, ha ha e cul u al simila i ies,
a sha ed his o y and language. This ies i in o he cu en
end o ca ying ou c oss-cul u al compa a i e s udies, bu
F on ie s in Psychology | www. on ie sin.o g 3Feb ua y 2018 | Volume 9 | A icle 126
Rome a e al. Cybe gossip in Adolescence
adds di e si y as, o da e, hese compa isons ha e mos
commonly aken place be ween Eu opean coun ies o be ween
he Uni ed S a es and di e en Asian coun ies (Rome a e al.,
2017). The second objec i e was o measu e he equency o
adolescen s’ use o cybe gossip, and o analyze he possible
di e ences by coun y o o igin and gende . This alida ed scale
will allow u u e esea ch o gain u he insigh s in o de no ms,
alues, con en ions and beha io s o his age g oup when using
ICT (Rome a e al., 2016).
Ou hypo heses we e: (1) he ins umen will show a
one- ac o s uc u e wi h op imal psychome ic p ope ies,
homogenei y o measu e ac oss gende and coun y and will ha e
a low associa ion wi h cybe bullying; (2) Colombian adolescen s
will be less in ol ed in cybe gossip, due o hei lowe use o ICT
(Said-Hung, 2014); and (3) he e will be no gende di e ences in
he equency o cybe gossip (Ca d e al., 2008).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Pa icipan s
The o e all sample comp ised 3,747 adolescen s (48.5% boys)
aged 10 o 19 (M=13.98; SD =1.69). The Colombian subsample
comp ised 1,931 s uden s (46.9% boys), aged 10–19 (M=14.22;
SD =1.89), and he Spanish subsample comp ised 1,816 s uden s
(50.2% boys) aged 12–19 (M=13.69; SD =1.35). The s udy used
a con enience sample based on accessibili y.
Ins umen s
Cybe gossip Ques ionnai e-Adolescen s (CGQ-A)
To measu e cybe gossip in adolescen s, he GCQ-P scale
designed o p ima y school child en was used unchanged
(López-P adas e al., 2017). The ins umen , which comp ises
nine i ems, is based a ound he ou main unc ions o gossip:
o in o m (“Le cuen o a mis amigos po las Redes Sociales o
Wha sApp las cosas que me en e o que les pasan a o os”—“I
use social ne wo ks o Wha sApp o sha e s o ies I hea abou
o he s wi h my iends”); o in luence (“He hablado sob e un
compañe o o amigo po las Redes Sociales o Wha sApp pa a que
el g upo cambie su opinión sob e él”—“I ha e old hings abou a
classma e o iend on social ne wo ks o Wha sApp o make he
g oup change hei opinion abou him/he ”); o c ea e iendship
(“Hablo sob e los demás en las edes sociales o Wha sApp po que
me hace sen i más ce ca de mi g upo de amigos o amigas”—
“I alk abou o he s on social ne wo ks o Wha sApp because i
makes me eel close o my g oup o iends”); and o en e ain
onesel (“Hablo con mi g upo de amigos de las Redes Sociales o
Wha sApp sob e lo que les pasa a o os compañe os del colegio
pa a di e i me”—“I alk wi h my iends on social ne wo ks o
Wha sApp abou wha ’s going on wi h o he classma es o un”).
Each o he nine i ems has a equency Like scale wi h he
ollowing alues: 0 =“nunca”—ne e ; 1 =“casi nunca”—ha dly
e e ; 2 =“no malmen e”—a e agely; 3 =“casi siemp e”—almos
always; and 4 =“siemp e”—always. The in e nal consis ency
o he one-dimensional scale was op imal (CGQ−P=0.83)
when o iginally alida ed o 10–12 yea olds. The ques ionnai e
in Spanish is included in Appendix A in Supplemen a y
Ma e ial.
Eu opean Cybe bullying In e en ion P ojec
Ques ionnai e (ECIPQ) (Del Rey e al., 2015)
This ins umen had p e iously been alida ed o bo h Colombia
(He e a-López e al., 2017) and Spain (O ega-Ruiz e al., 2016).
I is composed o 22 Like - ype i ems (11 o cybe ic imiza ion
and 11 o cybe agg ession) wi h i e answe op ions om 0 o
4: 0 =ne e ; 1 =once o wice; 2 =once o wice a mon h; 3
=a ound once a week; 4 =mo e han once a week. Examples
o he i ems a e: “Alguien me ha dicho insul os o g ose ías po
in e ne ”—someone has insul ed me ia in e ne ; “He colgado
ídeos o o os comp eme edo as de alguien en in e ne ”—I
ha e pos ed comp omising ideos o pho os o someone on
he in e ne . The in e nal consis ency when alida ed o iginally
was op imal: αcybe ic imiza ion =0.84, αcybe agg ession =0.81,
α o al =0.87.
P ocedu e
The esea ch had a ans e sal, es ospec i e, ex pos ac o
design, wi h one g oup and mul iple measu es (Mon e o
and León, 2007). The s udy was app o ed by he Comi é
Coodinado de É ica de la In es igación Biomédica de Andalucía
(Coo dina ing E hics Commi ee o Biomedical Resea ch o
Andalusia) and was in acco dance wi h all egula ions conce ning
p o esional e hics as s a ed in he In e na ional Con e ence on
Ha moniza ion Good Clinical P ac ice Guideline. The s udy was
app o ed by he Spanish school boa ds and he Colombian
schools’ managemen , and w i en pa en al consen was ob ained.
In bo h coun ies, he s uden s we e isi ed and he anonymous,
con iden ial and olun a y na u e and he objec i e o he s udy
we e explained be o e he su ey was aken. The au ho s we e
esponsible o he da a collec ion. S uden s had 20 min o ill in
he ques ionnai e. The esea che s we e p esen du ing his ime
o answe any ques ions.
S a is ical Analysis
Ma dia’s coe icien was calcula ed o assess he mul i a ia e
no mali y o he da ase using he p og am “R” (R De elopmen
Co e Team, 2008) and package “MVN” (Ko maz e al., 2015).
The psychome ic p ope ies o he CGQ-A scale we e e i ied
h ough i em esponse heo y (IRT) analysis, calcula ing a h ee-
pa ame e model (3PL) i ed o poly omous scales (Mu aki,
1990). This app oach gi es alues o each i em on he pa ame e s
disc ima ion (a), di icul y (b) and p obabili y o success o ailu e
(c). This analysis was ca ied ou using “eRm; colospace and
mi ” lib a ies ( e sion 3.3.2) in “R” (R De elopmen Co e Team,
2008).
To assess cons uc alidi y, con i ma o y ac o ial analyses
(CFA) we e ca ied ou using he EQS 6.2 p og am (Ben le
and Wu, 2012). The maximum likelihood es ima ion me hod
(MLE), obus scaling (B yan and Sa o a, 2012), and polycho ic
co ela ions (Mo a a-Ramí ez and Holgado-Tello, 2013) we e
used, which is he ecommended app oach o ca ego ical
a iables and unde he absence o mul i a ia e no mali y. The
i o he models was es ed wi h he ollowing indexes: Sa o a-
Ben le scaled chi squa e (χ2
S−B) (Sa o a and Ben le , 2001);
he compa a i e i index (CFI) and he non-no mali y i index
(NNFI) (≥0.90 is adequa e; ≥0.95 is op imal); he oo mean
F on ie s in Psychology | www. on ie sin.o g 4Feb ua y 2018 | Volume 9 | A icle 126
Rome a e al. Cybe gossip in Adolescence
squa e e o o app oxima ion (RMSEA) and he oo mean
squa e esidual (SRMR) (≤0.08 is adequa e; ≤0.05 is op imal)
(Hu and Ben le , 1999). The Akaike in o ma ion c i e ion (AIC)
was used o compa e he ob ained models, whe e he bes model
has he lowes alue.
The gene aliza ion o he model, ha is, he deg ee o
obus ness o he ac o ial s uc u e o in a iance, was es ed
h ough mul i-g oup analysis, wi h coun y and gende as
analysis c i e ia. This analysis consis s o compa ing a se
o inc easingly es ic i e models. In Model 1, con igu al
in a iance was es ed by imposing he same ac o ial s uc u e
on bo h subsamples, and checking whe he he i indexes o
he combined model indica ed good model i . Subsequen ly,
in Model 2 he ac o ial loads we e es ic ed and he i
indexes o Models 1 and 2 we e compa ed. Changes (1)
be ween he models o NNFI, CFI, RMSEA, and SRMR ≤
0.01 we e accep ed as e idence o measu emen in a iance
(Dimi o , 2010). As a u he es o in a iance, he chi
squa e di e ence es (1χ2
S−B) was used, whe e non-signi ican
di e ences demons a e in a iance in he models (Bollen, 1989;
Sa o a and Ben le , 2010). The mul i-g oup analysis was ca ied
ou in EQS 6.2 (Ben le and Wu, 2012).
The disc iminan alidi y was es ed h ough Spea man’s
Rho co ela ions be ween he CGQ-A scale and he ECIPQ
dimensions (cybe ic imiza ion and cybe agg ession).
In e nal consis ency was analyzed wi h McDonald’s Omega
index (), ecommended o ca ego ical a iables unde he
absence o mul i a ia e no mali y (Elousa-Oliden and Zumbo,
2008). Fo his we used he 9.2 Fac o p og am (Lo enzo-
Se a and Fe ando, 2006). The composi e eliabili y (CR) was
de e mined o es gene al eliabili y o he se o i ems, and
we looked a he a e age a iance ex ac ed (AVE) o es he
accu acy wi h which he cons uc is measu ed. The used cu -o
alues we e 0.70 o CR and 0.50 o AVE (Hai e al., 2005).
The le el o in ol emen in cybe gossip was calcula ed by
aking he a e age o he nine i ems. The adop ed s a is ical
signi icance le el was 0.05.
RESULTS
Psychome ic P ope ies o he
Cybe gossip Ques ionnai e o
Adolescen s (CGQ-A)
Ma dia’s analysis gene a ed a coe icien o skewness o 63.027;
p>0.05 and a coe icien o ku osis o 279.537; p>0.05,
indica ing he da a ail o mee he assump ion o mul i a ia e
no mali y.
The 3PL (IRT) analysis p o ided disc imina ion alues abo e
1, which a e conside ed good alues; he di icul y deg ee o he
i ems anged om 0.05 o 1.60, which is accep able (accep able
alues ange om −3 o 3); and he p obabili y o ailu e alues
we e low, indica i e o high quali y i ems (Bake , 1992) (see
Table 1).
The in e -i em co ela ion analysis showed alues in he
uppe -middle ange. The co ela ions be ween he CGQ-A
scale and he ECIPQ cybe agg ession and cybe ic imiza ion
dimensions we e in he medium ange, sugges ing a low
collinea i y and disc iminan alidi y be ween he ins umen s
(see Tables 2,3).
The CFA o he one-dimension s uc u e o he CGQ-A scale
showed an adequa e i : χ2
S−B=286.581; d =27; p<0.001;
NNFI =0.979; CFI =0.984; RMSEA =0.055 (90% CI [0.050,
0.061]); SRMR =0.048; AIC =232.581 (see Figu e 1).
The ob ained alue o he in e nal consis ency was wi hin he
op imal ange (CGQ−A=0.839).
The alues o he CR and AVE indexes we e also ound wi hin
he op imal ange: CR =0.904; AVE =0.513, o e 0.70 y 0.50,
espec i ely (Hai e al., 2005).
The esul s o he mul i-g oup analysis indica ed p oo o
con igu al and measu emen in a iance o bo h he coun y and
gende es s. Fo bo h a iables, he chi-squa e di e ences (χ2
S−B)
be ween Models 1 and 2 we e non-signi ican and he del as (1)
o he CFI, NNFI, RMSEA and SRMR indexes in all compa isons
we e below he 0.01 cu -o poin (see Table 4).
Occu ence o Cybe gossip among
Adolescen s
The adolescen pa icipan s in he s udy had an o e all
cybe gossip in ol emen le el o 1.36 (SD =0.49). Cybe gossip
occu ed mo e o en among he Spanish pa icipan s (M=1.57;
SD =0.59) han he Colombian ones (M=1.24; SD =0.37) (
=17.48; p>0.001). As also hypo hesized, no di e ences we e
ound be ween gi ls and boys ( =1.75; p=0.08; M=1.35; SD
=0.47 s. M=1.38; SD =0.53, espec i ely).
DISCUSSION
The objec i e o he s udy was o alida e he CGQ-P scale
(López-P adas e al., 2017) o Spanish and Colombian
adolescen s (a e wa ds called Cybe gossip Ques ionnai e-
Adolescen s, CGQ-A). The esul s con i med he o iginal
one-dimensional s uc u e wi h op imal indexes o i and
in e nal consis ency. The esul s o he disc iminan alidi y
analysis showed ha he CGQ-A scale measu es a di e en
concep han he cybe agg ession and cybe ic imiza ion
dimensions o he ECIPQ scale, al hough hey a e ela ed. These
esul s unde line he p oblem o a na ow concep ualiza ion
o gossip as malicious beha io , and suppo aking a wide
pe spec i e ha encompasses posi i e aspec s o social lea ning
(We and Salo ey, 2004; Bee sma and Van Klee , 2012).
The mul i-g oup analysis p o ed con igu al and measu emen
in a iance be ween Colombia and Spain and be ween boys
and gi ls, indica ing he scale has a obus ac o ial s uc u e
ac oss coun ies and gende . Pu in ano he way, i means he
di e en i ems con ibu e simila ly o he o e all ac o o
gi ls and boys, o Columbians and Spanish. The in a iance
he e o e demons a es ha Colombian and Spanish adolescen s
concep ualize cybe gossip in simila ways when hey espond
o he CGQ-A scale. This indica es simila dynamics in bo h
coun ies, despi e he cul u al, socioeconomic and geog aphical
di e ences (Rome a e al., 2017). Al hough gossip has been
widely iden i ied as a uni e sal beha io (Dunba , 2004), his
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Rome a e al. Cybe gossip in Adolescence
TABLE 1 | Mean, s anda d de ia ion, skewness, ku osis, and 3PL analysis (IRT).
I ems (CGQ-A) M SD Skew Ku a b c
CG 1 I ha e made commen s abou o he iends o classma es o ge in o a g oup on
social ne wo ks o Wha sApp.
1.19 0.55 3.81 17.87 2.03 1.61 0.02
CG 2 I alk abou o he s on social ne wo ks o Wha sApp because i makes me eel
close o my g oup o iends
1.41 0.83 2.43 6.20 1.89 1.00 0.04
CG 3 I ha e old hings abou a classma e o iend on social ne wo ks o Wha sApp o
make he g oup change hei opinion abou him/ he
1.45 0.83 2.10 4.50 1.92 1.00 0.08
CG 4 When I’m ang y wi h a classma e o iend, I alk abou i on social ne wo ks o
Wha sApp
1.39 0.78 2.36 5.80 1.73 0.97 0.00
CG 5 I ha e said nega i e hings abou ano he pe son on social ne wo ks o
Wha sApp wi hou ealizing i
1.40 0.74 2.24 5.72 1.99 0.76 0.00
CG 6 I ha e sha ed a classma e’s sec e wi h o he s on social ne wo ks o Wha sApp 1.29 0.68 2.90 9.58 1.76 1.19 0.00
CG 7 I use social ne wo ks o Wha sApp o sha e s o ies I hea abou o he s wi h my
iends
1.56 0.94 1.86 3.13 2.19 0.52 0.00
CG 8 When somebody in my g oup does some hing bad, I ell he es o my
classma es ia social ne wo ks o Wha sApp so hey know abou i
1.33 0.71 2.61 7.67 2.23 0.99 0.02
CG 9 I alk wi h my iends on social ne wo ks o Wha sApp abou wha ’s going on
wi h o he classma es o un
1.32 0.71 2.77 8.65 1.95 1.03 0.00
a, disc imina ion; b, di icul y; c, p obabili y o ailu e ( andom).
TABLE 2 | Ma ix o CGQ-A polycho ic co ela ions.
I em 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 1
2 0.61 1
3 0.54 0.52 1
4 0.43 0.43 0.43 1
5 0.46 0.47 0.45 0.63 1
6 0.48 0.41 0.43 0.53 0.59 1
7 0.46 0.43 0.53 0.58 0.59 0.61 1
8 0.48 0.49 0.50 0.52 0.56 0.54 0.59 1
9 0.49 0.49 0.43 0.49 0.56 0.53 0.58 0.59 1
All co ela ions we e signi ica i e, p <0.01.
TABLE 3 | Spea man’s Rho co ela ions be ween ECIPQ and CGQ-A.
Fac o n (3,747) 1. 2. 3. Skew. Ku .
M D.T.
1. Cybe agg ession 1.12 0.26 – 5.13 41.75
2. Cybe ic imiza ion 1.22 0.35 0.49** – 3.85 23.06
3. Cybe gossip 1.37 0.50 0.44** 0.30** – 2.36 7.94
**p<0.01.
s udy is he i s o analyze his in Spanish and Colombian
samples, and o show ha , also among adolescen s and when
ca ied ou ia ICT, gossip has a c oss-cul u al na u e. The
in a iance esul s also demons a ed a sha ed concep ualiza ion
be ween boys and gi ls. This con adic s some ea lie esea ch
ha classi ied gossip as a o m o indi ec agg ession, and ound
ha gi ls, o a g ea e ex en han boys, see gossip as a o m o
agg ession (A che and Coyne, 2005). Ou esul s a e in line wi h
esea ch on gossip in a wide sense, which shows i is a beha io
well- ecognized and iden i ied wi h by no only gi ls bu also boys
(Ku le e al., 2002).
The second objec i e o he esea ch was o measu e how
equenc ly adolescen s engage in cybe gossip, and o in es iga e
di e ences by coun y and gende . The desc ip i e esul s
indica e ha hey enage in his cybe beha io qui e equen ly.
Resul s con i med ou second hypo hesis ha Colombian
adolescen s would be less in ol ed in cybe gossip han Spanish
ones. This could e lec he lowe use o ICT in Colombia
(Said-Hung, 2014), bu could also be due o di e ences in
cul u e. Spanish cul u e is cha ac e ized by a g ea e p omo ion
o indi idualis alues when i comes o social image and
ecogni ion and accep ance wi hin he g oup (Ta a odi and
Swann, 1996), which would be in line wi h g ea e in ol emen in
his in e ac i e phenomenon. On he o he hand, La in Ame ican
cul u e is mo e es ic i e, has a highe espec o ules, and
app o al and obedience a e alued mo e (Lila e al., 2000),
which could explain a lowe in ol emen in beha io s ha a e
commonly seen as nega i e.
No di e ences we e ound in he equency wi h which boys
and gi ls pa icipa e in cybe gossip, which con i ms he hi d
hypo hesis. This, oge he wi h he esul s on measu emen
in a iance by gende , suppo s he idea ha boys and gi ls engage
in gossip in simila ways. P e ious de elopmen al s udies ha e
shown a highe in ol emen o gi ls, which hey a ibu ed o
adolescen gi ls spending mo e ime on social ac i i ies, and
ha ing a ela ionship s yle cha ac e ized by a desi e o p oximi y
and an anxie y abou ejec ion (Pe y and Paule i, 2011). In
he li e a u e on indi ec agg ession gi ls ha e also been seen
o gossip mo e (A che and Coyne, 2005), and his ela ionship
be ween gossip and gende was ound in s udies on adul s as
well (Ne o e al., 1993). Ne e heless, ou esul s a e in line wi h
he majo i y o con ibu ions in his ield, ega dless o whe he
s udies wi h a wide de ini ion (Fos e , 2004) o a na ow one
(Ku le e al., 2002; Ca d e al., 2008) a e conside ed. This leads
F on ie s in Psychology | www. on ie sin.o g 6Feb ua y 2018 | Volume 9 | A icle 126
Rome a e al. Cybe gossip in Adolescence
FIGURE 1 | CFA o he CGQ-A scale (*p<0.05).
TABLE 4 | Mul i-g oup analysis o he CGQ-A scale pe coun y and gende .
C i e ion Mod χ2
S-B d p NNFI CFI RMSEA SRMR 1χ2
S-B 1p1d 1NNFI 1CFI 1RMSEA 1SRMR
Coun y Mod 1 287.072 54 0.000 0.966 0.975 0.053 0.061
Mod 2 276.523 62 0.000 0.973 0.977 0.047 0.061 10.549 0.534 (n.s.) 8 0.007 0.002 0.006 0.000
Gende Mod 1 306.722 54 0.000 0.980 0.985 0.055 0.049
Mod 2 317.516 62 0.000 0.982 0.985 0.051 0.050 10.794 0.793 (n.s.) 8 0.002 0.000 0.004 0.001
Mod 1, model wi hou es ic ions; Mod 2, model es ic ed on ac o weigh s; n.s., non-signi ican .
o he ques ion why he e is a alse s e eo yped iew ha gi ls a e
bigge gossipe s han boys (in bo h he na ow and wide sense
o he concep ). Some s udies a ibu e his associa ion o gende
schemas, buil since childhood, which de e mine he p ocessing
o social in o ma ion (Ca d e al., 2008). Ano he conclusion
om hese esul s should be ha i is essen ial o include boys
in he s udy on gossip and cybe gossip, unlike se e al s udies in
he pas ha used only emale subjec s (McDonald e al., 2007;
Massa e al., 2012).
CONCLUSIONS
The p esen s udy has made an impo an con ibu ion o
his ield o esea ch by p o iding i wi h a alid and eliable
ins umen wi h which o measu e cybe gossip beha io . The
CGQ-A scale’s op imal psychome ic p ope ies and gene al
alidi y allow i s use in compa a i e s udies o desc ip i e and
explana o y na u e.
Wi hou downplaying he possible ha m ul e ec s o gossip,
his pape a gues ha cybe gossip does no ha e o be unde s ood
as a cybe beha io which mus be e adica ed o educed in
all si ua ions. This esea ch ecognizes and has con i med he
ela ionship be ween cybe gossip and cybe bullying, bu i also
suppo s a ocus on posi i e cybe gossip in psychoeduca ional
in e en ions ha p omo e he lea ning o new me hods o
in e ac ion and he de elopmen o communica ion and digi al
skills o build posi i e i ual ela ionships and p e en isky
cybe beha io s.
Limi a ions
A numbe o limi a ions o his s udy mus be men ioned. No
explici es s o con e gen alidi y ha e been included. These
F on ie s in Psychology | www. on ie sin.o g 7Feb ua y 2018 | Volume 9 | A icle 126
Rome a e al. Cybe gossip in Adolescence
we e omi ed as his s udy’s pa icula aim was o obse e i s
di e gen alidi y, which is why we ocussed on he co ela ion
be ween he concep s. Ano he po en ial limi a ion is ha no es -
e es measu es ha e been employed o con i m he eliabili y o
he esul s, al hough di e en samples ha e been used and he
op imal psychome ic p ope ies o he CGQ-A scale ha e been
es ablished.
Fu u e Resea ch
I is necessa y o con inue ad ancing ou unde s anding o
gossip, especially o i s e ec on g oup cha ac e is ics, ollowing
ecen e olu iona y s udies ha highligh he in luence o social
ne wo king on social beha io (Wu e al., 2016). The ole
o gende in cybe gossip also equi es u he a en ion, o
example wi h espec o he possible nuances ha ela ional
a iables such as iendship may in oduce (Wa son, 2012).
Ano he in e es ing di ec ion o esea ch would be o ollow
up on he indings by A eepa amannil and Khine (2017)
ha pe sonal (a ailabili y, abili y, habi , uses) and mo i a ional
(sel -e icacy, in e es , enjoymen ) ac o s co ela e wi h he
use o ICT o gossip. I is also necessa y o gene a e new
esea ch o a de elopmen al na u e o be e unde s and
wha is behind di e ences in in ol emen in gossip and
cybe gossip.
ETHICS STATEMENT
The s udy was app o ed by he Comi é Coodinado de É ica de
la In es igación Biomédica de Andalucía (Coo dina ing E hics
Commi ee o Biomedical Resea ch o Andalusia) and was in
acco dance wi h all egula ions conce ning p o essional e hics
as s a ed in he In e na ional Con e ence on Ha moniza ion
Good Clinical P ac ice Guideline. The s udy was app o ed by he
Spanish school boa ds and he Colombian schools’ managemen ,
and w i en pa en al consen was ob ained. In bo h coun ies,
he s uden s we e isi ed and he anonymous, con iden ial and
olun a y na u e and he objec i e o he s udy we e explained
be o e he su ey was aken.
AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS
All au ho s con ibu ed o he in e p e a ion o da a, helped o
d a , and e ise he manusc ip and ha e ead and app o ed he
inal manusc ip .
FUNDING
ER, JC, RO-R, and RDR we e suppo ed by p ojec s EDU2013-
44627-P (I+D, Spain) and PSI2016-74871-R (I+D+i, Spain).
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To he schools and adolescen s who pa icipa ed in his s udy. To
SR and TG who helped o collec he da a.
SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL
The Supplemen a y Ma e ial o his a icle can be ound
online a : h ps://www. on ie sin.o g/a icles/10.3389/ psyg.
2018.00126/ ull#supplemen a y-ma e ial
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