Women who gossip about others are driven by jealousy and low self-esteem.

This is according to a study by Chinese scientists published in the journal Evolutionary Psychological Science and cited by Mail Online.

190 representatives of the fairer sex between the ages of 23 and 35 participated in the study.

They are asked to rate their own physical attractiveness and self-esteem on a scale.

They were then randomly assigned to look at pictures of ladies categorized as high or low attractiveness.

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The participants had to imagine that they were in a social group with a "target" member of the stronger sex, and that the woman they saw in the photo became part of them and tried to get closer to "their man".

They rated their jealousy on a scale, after which they were presented with negative information about the lady.

The study participants were asked to rate their likelihood of sharing this information in different social contexts.

The analysis shows that they are more likely to spread negative information about the woman among their own friends than among other people.

They were also more likely to report experiencing higher levels of romantic jealousy if the lady was attractive, which in turn was associated with greater odds of spreading gossip about her.

Participants with low self-esteem were slightly more likely to gossip, especially when the competitors were highly attractive, the researchers found.

The team of Beijing scientists published their findings in the journal Evolutionary Psychological Science.

"This study examines whether and how young women use gossip strategies to gain opportunities for themselves when faced with physically attractive potential romantic competitors," they write.

"Our results show that when faced with physically attractive potential competitors, young women experience higher levels of romantic jealousy.

Therefore, they are more likely to pass on negative information to their friends, which can harm the sexual reputation of potential rivals," summarize the scientists.

In addition, women who had low self-esteem were much more likely to experience higher levels of romantic jealousy and were more likely to pass on negative information to their friends in the form of gossip, the study said.

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