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Factors promoting greater preoccupation with a secret
Christopher G Davis1, Hannah Brazeau1
1Department of Psychology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
The British Journal of Social Psychology
|May 20, 2021
Summary
Keeping secrets, especially from a partner, causes preoccupation. Factors like fear of discovery and perceived cost increase this burden, impacting mental well-being.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Health Psychology
Background:
- Secrets can negatively impact health and well-being.
- Understanding factors that make secrets preoccupying is crucial for mental health research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate factors contributing to preoccupation with secrets kept from a spouse or romantic partner.
- To examine the predictive role of perceived cost, cue frequency, fear of discovery, and self-concealment on secret preoccupation.
Main Methods:
- A four-wave longitudinal study was conducted with 143 adults keeping secrets from their partners.
- Multilevel modeling was used to analyze the data, assessing the impact of four key factors on secret preoccupation.
Main Results:
- Perceived cost of revealing, frequency of cues, fear of discovery, and self-concealment independently predicted greater secret preoccupation.
- Perceived cost, cue frequency, and fear of discovery also predicted future preoccupation, controlling for present levels.
Conclusions:
- Both the nature of the secret and the individual's characteristics influence how preoccupying a secret becomes.
- These findings highlight the psychological burden of secrets in intimate relationships and inform potential interventions.
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