Despite being an inherently interpersonal phenomenon, secrecy has rarely been studied within specific relationships. This study examines how the secret-keeper's relationship with the target relates to concealment among undergraduates (n = 292) and MTurk workers (n = 249). Participants rated keeping a personal secret as more detrimental to well-being when it involved greater concealment difficulty, rumination, and negative affect. For MTurk workers, this burden was compounded when the information was directly relevant to the target. Across both samples, participants in higher quality relationships kept their secrets to avoid shame or relationship damage and perceived less distance from the target. These results demonstrate that the motivations for and consequences of keeping secrets vary with the specific relationships in which they are kept.

中文翻译：

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你不知道的事可能会伤害我：在人际关系中保守秘密

尽管保密是一种固有的人际关系现象，但很少在特定关系中研究保密。本研究考察了保密人与目标的关系如何与本科生 ( n  = 292) 和 MTurk 工人 ( n = 249）。参与者认为，当涉及更大的隐藏难度、沉思和负面影响时，保守个人秘密对幸福感的危害更大。对于 MTurk 工作人员来说，当信息与目标直接相关时，这种负担更加复杂。在这两个样本中，处于较高质量关系中的参与者都会保守秘密以避免羞耻或关系受损，并认为与目标的距离更小。这些结果表明，保守秘密的动机和后果因保密的特定关系而异。