Few questions pique our interest like this one: “Do you want to know a secret?” Imagine learning a juicy bit of gossip that—if revealed—would fundamentally change the friendship dynamics and power structure of your social network. As any fan of the show "Survivor" can tell you, hurried whispers between players are mandatory in a game where strategic information is at a premium. The act of keeping a secret involves a delicate balance of trust, control, and vulnerability, and all are not equally up to the task.

Back in the real world, many of us keep secrets, even harboring them for years in some cases. While psychologists have known for some time that secrecy is associated with decreased well-being, it has been challenging to hammer out the details.

Recent research argues that secrecy is an intention, rather than just the act of concealing juicy, socially relevant information. The new way of thinking about secrecy is to view it as a broader phenomenon that begins with an intention and can impact well-being even before a conversation about the secret occurs, instead of viewing it merely as concealing information during conversations. By looking at it this way, we get a better sense of the real-world implications of secrecy.

Gone are the days of studying secrets as mere acts of concealment during conversation. The paradigm shift toward understanding secrecy as an intention, rather than just an action, has opened........

© Psychology Today