Search Here

While the immediate impulse might be to share good news right away, a recent study by the American Psychological Association suggests that keeping positive news to yourself before sharing it with others could enhance feelings of vitality and liveliness.

Lead author Michael Slepian, Ph.D., an associate professor of business at Columbia University, said that while secrecy is often associated with negative emotions, positive secrets, such as surprise gifts or joyous occasions like secret proposals, can spark feelings of excitement and energy.

The study, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, surveyed 500 individuals, revealing that despite the inclination to share good news immediately, many choose to keep positive secrets, such as marriage proposals or desired pregnancies.

Researchers conducted five experiments involving over 2,500 participants to explore the motivations behind keeping positive secrets and their impact on individuals compared to negative or embarrassing secrets.

During one experiment, participants were presented with a comprehensive list comprising nearly 40 typical types of positive news, ranging from financial achievements like saving money to personal indulgences such as buying oneself a gift or reducing debt.

Subsequently, participants identified which pieces of good news they presently possessed and which they chose to withhold. While some participants were instructed to contemplate the positive news they kept confidential, others reflected on non-secret good news. Following this, they rated the extent to which the news energized them and their intentions regarding sharing it with others.

"Positive secrets that people choose to keep should make them feel good, and positive emotion is a known predictor of feeling energized," Slepian explained.

But the researchers found across four follow-up studies that positive secrets make people feel energized for another reason too.

In a particular experiment, participants were presented with a list of typical types of positive news and instructed to choose the piece most likely to occur in their near future. Subsequently, one group of participants imagined withholding the selected good news until later that day when they could share it with their partner, while another group imagined being unable to inform their partner until later.

Notably, participants who envisioned holding back the information to create a surprising revelation reported heightened levels of energy compared to those unable to disclose the news promptly.

In a separate experiment, participants were tasked with recollecting either a current positive secret, a current negative secret, or simply any current secret. The study aimed to discern the motivations behind keeping positive secrets compared to negative ones.

Researchers discovered that individuals tended to withhold positive secrets primarily for internal or personal motives, rather than feeling compelled by external pressures to maintain secrecy.

Unlike negative or embarrassing secrets, which are frequently influenced by external pressures or anxieties, positive secrets tend to invigorate individuals when they voluntarily opt to maintain confidentiality, as noted by Slepian.

"People will often keep positive secrets for their own enjoyment, or to make a surprise more exciting. Rather than based in external pressures, positive secrets are more often chosen due to personal desires and internal motives," he said.

"When we feel that our actions arise from our own desires rather than external pressures, we also feel ready to take on whatever lies ahead."

Moreover, keeping good news a secret can evoke a sense of aliveness, irrespective of whether individuals plan to share the news later or not. Slepian suggests that delaying the revelation of positive news allows individuals to savor the anticipation and excitement, prolonging the enjoyment of the surprise moment.