Secrets, Psychological Health, and the Fear of Discovery

• Published in: Personality & social psychology bulletin Vol. 47; no. 5; pp. 781 - 795
• Main Authors: Davis, Christopher G., Brazeau, Hannah, Xie, Elisabeth Bailin, McKee, Kathleen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01-05-2021; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Concealment; Couples; Discovery; Emotions; Fear & phobias; Individual differences; Interpersonal relationship satisfaction; Mental health; Negative emotions; Preoccupation; Psychological well being; Romantic relationships; Secrecy; Secrets; Selfconcealment; Well being; self-concealment; fear of discovery; romantic relationships; secrets; preoccupation
• ISSN: 0146-1672; 1552-7433
• DOI: 10.1177/0146167220946195

Keeping secrets from one’s partner has been associated with lower well-being and relationship satisfaction. Previous research has suggested that individual differences in self-concealment account for these effects. However, we propose that the fear of discovery (FoD)—defined as the fear that one’s secret may be revealed by means other than deliberate disclosure—predicts the extent to which secrets affect well-being beyond the effects attributable to individual differences. Both a cross-sectional and a longitudinal survey (combined N = 471; 54.4% female; Mage = 39.5) of adults in romantic relationships confirmed that FoD predicted greater preoccupation with the secret, more negative affect, and less relationship satisfaction and commitment beyond that of self-concealment. Multilevel modeling in Study 2 indicated that changes in FoD predicted changes in preoccupation over time. The data are consistent with the notion that FoD promotes greater preoccupation, greater negative affect, and lower levels of relationship well-being.