Keeping secrets can have positive benefits

Keeping secrets can have positive benefits


Can you keep a secret? If so, it might just make you feel more energized and alive.

That’s the upshot of recent findings by Columbia University researchers, who concluded that keeping positive secrets can be a good thing. To determine that, they conducted five experiments with 2,800 people between the ages of 18 and 78.

In one experiment, the participants were given a list of about three dozen types of positive personal news, such as reducing debt or hitting a weight-loss goal. Typically, the participants reported having about 15 pieces of good news and keeping five or six of them secret.

They were then asked to reflect on one of two experiences — either one secret they had shared with others or one they had not. People who reflected on undisclosed good news reported feeling much more energized than those who had already shared their happy moment.

The researchers also found that keeping good news a secret can energize people, regardless of whether they intend to ever reveal it. That may be because positive secrets can make someone feel good, and that’s a known predictor of feeling energized.

The researchers noted that feeling energized by a positive secret is also distinctly different that keeping a negative secret. That’s because negative secrets can be emotionally depleting and cause worry over whether they will be revealed.

But what about human nature? When we have good news — like a budding romance — many share it with all their friends or plaster it on social media. Yet the researchers say there’s more personal benefit in being patient and discreet.

When it comes to sharing good news, saying less can ultimately mean more.

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