“It’s Hard Not to Think of Feedback as Gossip”: Exploring Resident Perspectives on the Relationship Between Gossip and Feedback

PURPOSE: Gossip has been found to influence feedback, but the interplay between gossip and feedback is unclear. Given the importance of feedback for resident development, the education community needs to better understand how gossip and feedback are connected, and the implications of that relationship. For purposes of this study, the authors used an established definition of gossip as "evaluative talk about a person who is not present." METHOD: The authors used constructivist grounded theory to iteratively conduct and analyze semi-structured interviews from November 2024 to April 2025 with 16 resident participants from 7 programs, including pediatric, obstetrics-gynecology, internal medicine, and psychiatry programs, in the United States and the Netherlands. Interview questions focused on the experience of gossip in residency and the interplay between gossip and feedback. RESULTS: The analysis revealed that gossip and feedback relate to each other in 4 distinct ways, particularly when there are barriers to feedback. "Gossip catalyzes feedback," encouraging its delivery, whether explicitly or subconsciously. "Gossip replaces feedback" when giving critical feedback is challenging or when there is no forum for feedback. Sometimes, "gossip is feedback" given that feedback systems share elements with gossip conversations, such as when feedback conversations are indirect or the feedback provider maintains anonymity. Finally, "gossip follows feedback" when it helps trainees process the emotional experience of receiving challenging feedback and guards against peers receiving similar feedback. CONCLUSIONS: The authors theorize gossip as a mechanism for navigating formal feedback systems in practice. Gossip, as much as it is commentary about individuals, is metacommentary on our systems of feedback. The authors call on educators to understand when gossip is used in feedback as a means to further understand barriers to formal feedback. Educators grappling with their feedback systems without considering gossip are missing the looming third party.