Venting about mutual friends may make you more likable. But it can also backfire.

• A new study shows that venting about people can make you more likable.
• Friends can bond over venting when it feels relatable to them.
• Venting that feels more like gossip can backfire and lose you friends, the study found.

Even the closest friend groups have their grievances. One friend might have an unhealthy relationship with another, choosing to confide in a mutual third party. How they go about it can bring them closer to their other friends, based on a small new study published in Evolution and Human Behavior.