The costs of not disclosing

Although choosing to disclose self-relevant information can expose personal vulnerabilities, choosing not to disclose information poses risks of its own. In this article, we detail both intrapersonal and interpersonal costs of not disclosing. Ironically, some of these costs reflect the very ones concealers were hoping to avoid by not revealing their secrets. We then consider why secret keeping is so common if it is indeed so costly. Both misestimations of the costs and a blindness to less-daunting means of disclosure may lead concealment to persist. It is important for future research not merely to help correct errors in concealers' prospective cost-benefit analyses of revealing, but also to identify the means of disclosure that maximize benefits and minimize costs.