The research study was released today (November 13) in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
The Psychology of Positive Secrecy
A pre-study survey of 500 people found that 76% said the first thing they would do upon discovering excellent news is share it with somebody. There are numerous positive life events that people may pick to keep secret, such as a marriage proposition, a wanted pregnancy, or spending lavishly on a high-end purchase.
Researchers carried out five experiments with more than 2,500 participants to comprehend what inspires people to keep positive secrets, and how keeping a positive trick might affect somebody compared with a trick they keep due to the fact that they consider it to be humiliating or unpleasant.
In one experiment, participants were shown a list of nearly 40 common kinds of great news, that included products such as saving up cash, buying a gift for oneself or reducing a financial obligation. The individuals then showed which pieces of great news they presently had and which they had actually kept trick. Some individuals were asked to assess the excellent news they concealed, while others assessed good news that was not secret, and then rated how stimulated the news made them feel and whether they intended to share the news with someone else.
The scientists found that people held on typical 14 to 15 pieces of great news, with an average of five to six that were kept secret. The individuals who reviewed their favorable secrets reported feeling more energized than the participants who considered their great news that was not secret. People who reported that they planned to share their news with others likewise reported feeling more stimulated, whether the news was secret or not.
” Positive secrets that people select to keep should make them feel good, and favorable emotion is a known predictor of sensation energized,” said Slepian. The scientists discovered throughout four follow-up research studies that positive secrets make individuals feel stimulated for another reason too.
Surprising Revelations and Internal Motivations
Among those experiments revealed individuals the list of typical types of excellent news and asked them to choose the piece of news that was more than likely to take place to them in the near future. One group of individuals then pictured that they kept fortunately trick till they told their partner later on that day while another group imagined that they were currently not able to reach their partner therefore were unable to inform them until later in the day. They were more stimulated than when they were unable to reveal the info when individuals imagined wanting to hold the details back to make the discovery unexpected.
Another experiment asked individuals to recall a current favorable trick (a secret they felt great about), a current negative trick (a trick they felt bad about) or just an existing trick. The researchers found that individuals keep positive secrets in specific for individual or internal factors, instead of due to the fact that they felt required by outdoors pressures to keep the details trick.
In contrast to humiliating or negative tricks, which are typically governed by external pressures or worries, positive tricks made people feel enlivened when they could select to keep the info trick, according to Slepian.
” People will often keep favorable tricks for their own satisfaction, or to make a surprise more amazing. Rather than based on external pressures, positive secrets are regularly chosen due to internal motives and personal desires,” he stated. “When we feel that our actions occur from our own desires instead of external pressures, we also feel all set to take on whatever lies ahead.”
The scientists likewise found that keeping great news a secret can make people feel energized and alive, despite whether they intend to share that information later with someone or not.
” People often go to fantastic lengths to manage exposing a positive trick to make it all the more interesting. This kind of surprise can be intensely satisfying, however surprise is the most short lived of our feelings,” Slepian said. “Having additional time– days, weeks, and even longer– to picture the cheerful surprise on another persons face enables us more time with this exciting minute, even if only in our own minds.”
Reference: “The Bright Side of Secrecy: The Energizing Effect of Positive Secrets” by Michael Slepian, PhD, and Adam Galinksy, PhD, Columbia University, Katharine Greenaway, PhD, The University of Melbourne, and Nicholas Camp, PhD, University of Michigan, 13 November 2023, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.DOI: 10.1037/ pspa0000352.
“While unfavorable tricks are far more common than favorable secrets, some of lifes most joyful events begin as tricks, including secret marriage propositions, pregnancies, surprise gifts, and amazing news.”
A study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology discovered that keeping favorable tricks, like a surprise or personal achievement, can make people feel more stimulated. This impact, discovered in try outs over 3,000 individuals, is due to the internal inspiration and anticipation associated with planning to share the news later on.
People who keep excellent news a trick– even for a brief time– typically feel stimulated, study states.
People often want to share good news as soon as they learn it, a study released by the American Psychological Association has actually found that keeping excellent news a secret before informing someone else could make individuals feel more stimulated and alive.
” Decades of research study on secrecy recommend it is bad for our wellness, however this work has actually just taken a look at keeping tricks that have unfavorable ramifications for our lives. Is secrecy naturally bad for our well-being or do the negative effects of secrecy tend to come from keeping negative secrets?” asked lead author Michael Slepian, PhD, an associate teacher of service at Columbia University. “While negative tricks are much more common than favorable tricks, some of lifes most happy celebrations begin as tricks, including secret marital relationship propositions, pregnancies, surprise gifts, and exciting news.”
Some individuals were asked to reflect on the good news they kept secret, while others shown on excellent news that was not secret, and then ranked how stimulated the news made them feel and whether they meant to share the news with someone else.
The scientists found that individuals held on typical 14 to 15 pieces of great news, with an average of 5 to six that were kept secret. The participants who showed on their positive secrets reported feeling more energized than the individuals who believed about their excellent news that was not secret. Individuals who reported that they planned to share their news with others likewise reported feeling more stimulated, whether the news was secret or not.