WASHINGTON — There’s good news about good news! However, researchers say it’s best to keep it to yourself. A new study finds keeping secrets, especially about positive news, can make you feel more energized and alive.
The study by the American Psychological Association, led by Columbia University’s Associate Professor Michael Slepian, PhD, challenges the long-standing belief that secrecy is inherently detrimental to our well-being.
“Decades of research on secrecy suggest it is bad for our well-being, but this work has only examined keeping secrets that have negative implications for our lives. Is secrecy inherently bad for our well-being or do the negative effects of secrecy tend to stem from keeping negative secrets?” asks lead author Michael Slepian, PhD, an associate professor of business at Columbia University, in a media release.
“While negative secrets are far more common than positive secrets, some of life’s most joyful occasions begin as secrets, including secret marriage proposals, pregnancies, surprise gifts and exciting news.”
The study’s initial survey of 500 individuals found that while 76 percent of people would immediately share good news, many choose to keep positive events, like marriage proposals or personal achievements, secret. To find out why, researchers conducted five experiments with over 2,500 participants. These experiments explored the motivations behind keeping positive secrets and the effects of such secrecy on individuals.
One key experiment involved participants reflecting on good news they kept secret versus good news they didn’t. Those who pondered over their positive secrets felt more energized than those who thought about non-secretive good news. This was true regardless of whether they intended to share the news later.
Furthermore, Slepian’s team discovered that the act of keeping a positive secret is often driven by internal desires rather than external pressures, contrasting with the reasons behind keeping negative or embarrassing secrets. This internal motivation, according to Slepian, contributes to the feeling of readiness and energy.
The research underscores a nuanced understanding of secrecy. It reveals that not all secrets are burdensome; in fact, some, when kept for personal reasons or for the thrill of a surprise, can be uplifting. This study invites a reevaluation of how we view secrecy and its impact on our mental state, showing that in certain contexts, keeping secrets can be a source of joy and vitality.
“People sometimes go to great lengths to orchestrate revealing a positive secret to make it all the more exciting. This kind of surprise can be intensely enjoyable, but surprise is the most fleeting of our emotions,” Slepian concludes. “Having extra time—days, weeks or even longer—to imagine the joyful surprise on another person’s face allows us more time with this exciting moment, even if only in our own minds.”
The study is published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
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