Written by Xantha Leatham, Deputy Science Editor, Daily Mail
November 13, 2023 14:00, updated November 13, 2023 14:00
- Keeping a secret can actually brighten your day, at least for a while
- Study finds people keep positive secrets especially for personal reasons
Whether it’s an engagement announcement, a new job, or a lottery win, we often want to share good news as soon as possible.
But new research shows that keeping a secret can actually brighten your day, at least for a while.
The Columbia University team recruited more than 2,500 people to take part in the study, which involved a series of experiments.
In one experiment, participants were shown a list of nearly 40 common types of good news, including items such as saving money, buying yourself a gift, and reducing debt.
They showed what good news they currently had and what news they had kept secret.
Some people were asked to think about good news that they had kept secret, while others were asked to think about good news that was not a secret, and they were asked to think about how well they felt after hearing the news, and how much they felt better about the news. Assess whether you intend to share it with others.
The researchers found that people, on average, have 14 to 15 pieces of good news, but keep five to six secret.
Participants who reflected on their positive secrets reported feeling more energetic than those who thought about non-secret good news.
Those who said they planned to share their news with others also said they felt more energized.
In another experiment, participants were asked to choose the news that was most likely to happen to them in the near future.
One group was told to imagine that they had kept the good news a secret until they told their partner later in the day, while the remaining group were asked to imagine that they were currently unable to reach their partner and could not tell them until later in the day. I asked them to imagine it.
People who imagined a “desire” to hide information in order to make the revelation surprising were more energetic than when other factors prevented them from revealing the information.
Lead author Michael Slepian said: “Decades of research on secrecy suggests that it has a negative impact on our well-being; We are only considering confidentiality.”
“Are secrets inherently bad for our well-being, or do the negative effects of secrets tend to result from holding negative secrets?”
“Although negative secrets are much more common than positive secrets, some of life’s most joyful events begin with secrets: secret marriage proposals, pregnancies, surprise presents, and exciting news.”
An analysis of another experiment found that people keep positive secrets not because they feel they have to hide information due to outside pressure, but for specifically personal reasons.
And in contrast to negative or embarrassing secrets, positive secrets were those that made people feel more “alive” when they kept the information to themselves.
“People often keep positive secrets for their own enjoyment or to make the surprise more exciting,” Slepian says.
“Positive secrets are often chosen based on personal desires and internal motivations, rather than on the basis of external pressure.
“When we feel that our actions stem from our own desires rather than external pressures, we feel ready to accept whatever lies ahead.
“People can go to great lengths to tailor the reveal of a positive secret to make it more exciting.
“This kind of surprise is very enjoyable, but surprise is the most fleeting of our emotions.
“By having a few extra days, weeks, or even more time, imagining the joyful surprise on someone else’s face, even if only in your own mind, you can create this exciting moment.” You can spend more time on.”
The results of this study were published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.