Keeping Secrets Is Good For Depending on What The Secret Holds

A new study out of the University of Columbia finds that keeping a friend’s secret is energizing!

The study involved roughly 4,000 participants in five different experiments.

In one of the experiments, researchers examined good news and whether people planned to discuss and share these good news secrets with others — or keep them private…

The experiment found good news that was being kept a secret was more “energizing” than good news that was not a secret — leading people to want to keep the good news to themselves.

Previous research on secrecy had suggested that keeping secrets is bad for our well-being…

The study finds that “Rather than being fatigued and burdened by the secret, people find positive secrets energizing.”

The most surprising finding of the study, he added, was that even when positive secrets aren’t intended to be revealed — people still get excited about them. 

“People feel more in control over their positive secrets,” the researcher said — “and feeling in control is energizing.”