One bad rumour can affect how children view each other, study finds

Seven-year-olds trusted good gossip if it came from multiple sources but the bad only had to be heard once

In the ruthless world of the primary school playground, one bad rumour is enough to make children wary of another, new research suggests.

Psychologists who studied gossip in seven-year-olds found that the children trusted good rumours when they came from several sources, but could be swayed by bad rumours they heard only once.