Backbiting or tale-bearing is to

slander Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

someone in their absence — to bite them behind their back. Originally, backbiting referred to an unsporting attack from the rear in the blood sport of

bearbaiting Bear-baiting is a blood sport in which a chained bear and one or more dogs are forced to fight one another. It may also involve pitting a bear against another animal. History Europe Great Britain Bear-baiting was very popular from the 12th u ...

Causes

Backbiting may occur as a form of release after a confrontation. By insulting the opposing person, the backbiter diminishes them and, by doing so, restores their own

self-esteem Self-esteem is confidence in one's own worth or abilities. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself (for example, "I am loved", "I am worthy") as well as emotional states, such as triumph, despair, pride, and shame. Smith and Mackie (2007) d ...

. A bond may also be established with the confidante if they are receptive to the hostile comment. Such

gossip Gossip is idle talk or rumour, especially about the personal or private affairs of others; the act is also known as dishing or tattling. Gossip is a topic of research in evolutionary psychology, which has found gossip to be an important means ...

is common in human society as people seek to divert

blame Blame is the act of censuring, holding responsible, or making negative statements about an individual or group that their actions or inaction are socially or morally irresponsible, the opposite of praise. When someone is morally responsible for ...

and establish their place in the

dominance hierarchy In biology, a dominance hierarchy (formerly and colloquially called a pecking order) is a type of social hierarchy that arises when members of animal social animal , social groups interact, creating a ranking system. A dominant higher-ranking i ...

. But the backbiting may be perceived as a form of delinquent behaviour due to an

inferiority complex In psychology, an inferiority complex is an intense personal feeling of inadequacy, often resulting in the belief that one is in some way deficient, or inferior, to others. According to Alfred Adler, a feeling of inferiority may be brought ab ...

Religious views

In most major religions, backbiting is considered a

sin In a religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, s ...

. Leaders of the

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...

condemned it as the worst of sins as it destroyed the 'life of the soul' and provoked

divine wrath Divine retribution is supernatural punishment of a person, a group of people, or everyone by a deity in response to some action. Many cultures have a story about how a deity exacted punishment upon previous inhabitants of their land, causing ...

. In

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

, backbiting goes against the ideal of

right speech The Noble Eightfold Path (Pali: ; Sanskrit: ) is an early summary of the path of Buddhist practices leading to liberation from samsara, the painful cycle of rebirth, in the form of nirvana. The Eightfold Path consists of eight practices: ri ...

Saint Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wit ...

classified it as a

mortal sin A mortal sin ( la, peccatum mortale), in Catholic theology, is a gravely sinful act which can lead to damnation if a person does not repent of the sin before death. A sin is considered to be "mortal" when its quality is such that it leads to ...

, given that, as with other mortal sins, the act attains its perfection, that is, the act is committed with full knowledge and full consent of the will.

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

considers it to be a major sin and the

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing. ...

compares it to the abhorrent act of eating the flesh of one's dead brother. Additionally, it is not permissible for one to keep quiet and listen to backbiting. In

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

, backbiting is known as ''hotzaat shem ra'' (spreading a bad name) and is considered a severe sin. in the 19th century, Charlotte Elizabeth wrote an account of backbiting for the

moral education Character education is an umbrella term loosely used to describe the teaching of children and adults in a manner that will help them develop variously as moral, civic, good, mannered, behaved, non-bullying, healthy, critical, successful, traditiona ...

of children in places such as

Sunday school A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian in character. Other religions including Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism have also organised Sunday schools in their temples and mosques, particularly in the West. Su ...

Notable examples

In the

Book of Numbers The book of Numbers (from Greek Ἀριθμοί, ''Arithmoi''; he, בְּמִדְבַּר, ''Bəmīḏbar'', "In the desert f) is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah. The book has a long and com ...

, the elder siblings of

Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...

–

Miriam Miriam ( he, מִרְיָם ''Mīryām'', lit. 'Rebellion') is described in the Hebrew Bible as the daughter of Amram and Jochebed, and the older sister of Moses and Aaron. She was a prophetess and first appears in the Book of Exodus. The Tor ...

and

Aaron According to Abrahamic religions, Aaron ''′aharon'', ar, هارون, Hārūn, Greek (Septuagint): Ἀαρών; often called Aaron the priest ()., group="note" ( or ; ''’Ahărōn'') was a prophet, a high priest, and the elder brother of ...

– talk against him together. God is angered and punishes Miriam with leprosy.

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...

notoriously spoke of Gillian Duffy as being a "sort of

bigot Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, rel ...

ed woman" after conversing with her pleasantly during his 2010 election campaign. This remark was made to his staff as he was driving away but was picked up by a live microphone. This incident caused him great

embarrassment Embarrassment or awkwardness is an emotional state that is associated with mild to severe levels of discomfort, and which is usually experienced when someone commits (or thinks of) a socially unacceptable or frowned-upon act that is witnessed ...

and he returned to apologise, declaring that he was a " penitent

ner".

References

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The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

, author=Patrick Wintour, Polly Curtis , date=28 April 2010 {{citation , page=98 , title=Religious Emblems and Allegories : a series of engravings, with suitable letter-press, designed to illustrate divine truth , year=1868 , author=William Holmes , location=London , publisher=William Tegg {{cite book , last1=Abdullah , first1=Mohammed , title=The reliance of the believer in Ramadhan , date=2006 , publisher=Squiz D.sign , location=Singapore , isbn=9789810565497 {{citation , title=An introduction to the Baha'i faith , author=Peter Smith , publisher=Cambridge University Press , year=2008 , isbn=9780521862516 , page=156 {{citation , journal=The Educational Review , year=1964 , title=Psychology of Backbiting , volume=70-71 , page=195 {{citation , title=Why You Say It , author=Webb B. Garrison , chapter=To Backbite , publisher=Read Books , year=2007 , isbn=9781406776195 , page=166 {{citation , url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/various/wheel294.html , title=Right Livelihood: The Noble Eightfold Path in the Working Life , last=Jootla , first=Susan , year=1982 , work=The Wheel , publisher=Buddhist Publication Society Bullying Communication of falsehoods Defamation Ethics Sin