Rice Univesrity Logo
    • FAQ
    • Deposit your work
    • Login
    View Item 
    •   Rice Scholarship Home
    • Faculty & Staff Research
    • Faculty Publications
    • View Item
    •   Rice Scholarship Home
    • Faculty & Staff Research
    • Faculty Publications
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Gossip as Social Control: Informal Sanctions on Ethical Violations in Scientific Workplaces

    Thumbnail
    Name:
    GossipAsSocialControl.pdf
    Size:
    635.7Kb
    Format:
    PDF
    View/Open
    Author
    Vaidyanathan, Brandon; Khalsa, Simranjit; Ecklund, Elaine Howard
    Date
    2016
    Abstract
    Research on misconduct in science has largely focused on egregious violations such as fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism. Recent scholarship, however, calls for greater attention to forms of everyday misconduct and how scientists navigate ethical ambiguity when they are unable or unwilling to make formal accusations. Drawing on interview data from 251 physicists and biologists from both elite and non-elite universities and research institutes in the United States, United Kingdom, and India, we find that scientists are often reticent or unable to take formal action against many behaviors they perceive as unethical and irresponsible. As a result, they resort to informal gossip to warn colleagues of transgressors. Many express confidence that such pro-social gossip can serve as a means of social control by tarnishing the reputations of transgressors. Yet its effectiveness as a form of social control is limited, particularly when transgressors enjoy higher status than gossipers. We identify two types and three consequences of such gossip and assess the effectiveness of gossip as a means of social control. Finally, we consider the implications of our study for understanding and decreasing misconduct in science.
    Citation
    Vaidyanathan, Brandon, Khalsa, Simranjit and Ecklund, Elaine Howard. "Gossip as Social Control: Informal Sanctions on Ethical Violations in Scientific Workplaces." Social Problems, 63, no. 4 (2016) Oxford University Press: 554-572. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spw022.
    Published Version
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spw022
    Keyword
    gossip; misconduct; science; scientists; ethics
    Type
    Journal article
    Publisher
    Oxford University Press
    Citable link to this page
    https://hdl.handle.net/1911/93819
    Rights
    This is an author's peer-reviewed final manuscript, as accepted by the publisher. The published article is copyrighted by the authors.
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Collections
    • Faculty Publications [5504]
    • Sociology Publications [74]

    Home | FAQ | Contact Us | Privacy Notice | Accessibility Statement
    Managed by the Digital Scholarship Services at Fondren Library, Rice University
    Physical Address: 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005
    Mailing Address: MS-44, P.O.BOX 1892, Houston, Texas 77251-1892
    Site Map

     

    Searching scope

    Browse

    Entire ArchiveCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsTypeThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsType

    My Account

    Login

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    Home | FAQ | Contact Us | Privacy Notice | Accessibility Statement
    Managed by the Digital Scholarship Services at Fondren Library, Rice University
    Physical Address: 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005
    Mailing Address: MS-44, P.O.BOX 1892, Houston, Texas 77251-1892
    Site Map