Graduation Term

Spring 2026

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Department of Psychology

Committee Chair

Gregory Braswell

Committee Member

Laura Finan

Committee Member

Kelly Clemens

Abstract

In 2020, researchers Frijns et al. called for a new wave of secret-keeping research which prioritized the person-centric experience of youth keeping secrets. This study added to that collection by comparing two kinds of secret-keeping which are not compared in existing research: secrets which are related to abuse, and secrets which are not. Researchers in the field of child welfare study only abuse-related secret-keeping, almost always qualitatively. Alternatively, researchers of non-abuse secret-keeping or general secret-keeping collect almost entirely quantitative data, absent of the personal experience of secret-keeping.

Through an online survey, 205 undergraduate students were asked to reflect on an important secret they had kept. They quantitatively ranked characteristics of that secret such as intrusiveness, importance, and valence, as well as the length of time the secret was kept. Furthermore, participants were asked qualitative questions about the experience of keeping that secret, such as why they kept it, what they might say to someone struggling with a similar secret, and why it would be easier or harder to disclose that secret now that they have reached adulthood.

Participants with abuse-related secrets rated their secret as being more negative and intense than non-abuse secrets, and they had kept these secrets longer. However, similarities and widely varied experiences for both kinds of secrets also emerged. The responses of participants highlight the experience of secret-keeping as a deeply interpersonal process and question whether the field of secret-keeping research may continue to treat abuse disclosure and other kinds of secret-keeping as phenomenologically unique experiences.

Access Type

Thesis-Open Access

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