Secrets and disclosures: how young children handle secrets

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Cognitive Development

Background:

• Understanding of information disclosure and secrecy is crucial for social development.
• Previous research suggests older children and adults employ selective self-disclosure strategies.
• Limited research exists on how young children (5-6 years old) navigate secret information.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how young children understand and manage secret information.
• To examine the influence of information content and verbal cues on children's disclosure patterns.
• To determine if young children follow restrictive self-disclosure patterns similar to older individuals.

Main Methods:

• An experiment was conducted with 209 children aged 5 and 6 years.
• Participants observed a puppet (Zinc) and decided to whom Zinc would disclose various pieces of information, including secrets.
• Children were allocated to two groups: one receiving prior verbal cues about potential secrecy, and a control group without cues.

Main Results:

• Children differentiated between secrets and nonsecrets based on content, withholding secrets more and sharing them preferentially with friends.
• Young children did not withhold nonsecret information but shared it broadly with both friends and nonfriends.
• Verbal cues significantly increased restrictive disclosure patterns for all information types.

Conclusions:

• Young children exhibit early forms of selective self-disclosure, mirroring adult patterns.
• Content and context (verbal cues) play a role in young children's decisions about sharing information.
• Findings highlight the developing understanding of privacy and social relationships in early childhood.