The Psychology of Keeping Secrets

The honest truth about keeping secrets.

Produced and Edited by Vanessa Hill
Research and Writing by Rachelle Oldmixon
A big thank you to Joel Werner for the Shakespearian voice over.

REFERENCES

[Aggarius]

D-d-d-d-did Braincraft just Rick-roll me?

[braincraft]

Never gonna run around and desert you guys. (If you listen to the lyrics, they're actually relevant to the story of the scientific research). Thanks for watching <3

[ZedJay]

I've gained like 50 pounds in pure secrets this month.

[MonicaElysia]

After i came out, I stood up straighter, I felt like i could see higher/further, even colours seemed brighter. I think its because your brain is constantly thinking about that secret ( either consciously or subconsciously), so your brain is working extra hard to figure out a solution to your problem whilst also trying not to show that there is a problem in the first place, along with the brain power of ever day situations.

[pudzzadelic]

I felt weightless, euphoric even yesterday after finally confessing something important to someone - I think it's linked to the release of having to always thinking about the secret/burden and the toll that it took on you mentally rather than physically, which in turn has a similar or greater effect.
Freaky that you release this video around the time of my experience! Keep up the amazing content, Vanessa :)

[pomtubes]

Really? Fuckin' Rick Roll'd in 2016!
Goddamit.

[MagiciteHeart]

Everyone tripping on the Rick Roll when the REAL MVP is that "Granger/Lovegood 2016" shirt. Holy crap that is cool.

[Ambious]

I carry around a few secrets, mostly to protect people (and because I promised other people not to tell), and when I know the reason for keeping the secret is just (and that no one is being wronged) it doesn't weigh on me at all. Secrets about people being wronged, however, are much heavier on the heart and mind.

[muffincrumbss]

"What does a secret weigh?" sounds like a Vsauce video

[MaicahRu]

that may not be the correlation, perhaps people who perceive their secrets as burdensome actually have predisposition to make hard work of things in general, hence when asked to rate the difficulty of a task they estimate it to be harder than those who viewed their secretes as less burdensome.

[StephandaSilva]

Does a heavier secret make you judge a hill to be steeper, or is it just that people who find secrets more burdensome also find hills steeper?

[acdchook]

Can't help but think that in this case correlation definitely does not equal causation. It seems much more likely that people with a secretive personality or lifestyle may more likely to be less physically active and hence dislike physical tasks and rate them as more difficult. But telling all your secrets won't make a hill seem easier to climb.

[jamesryan]

Again, another absolutely amazing quality video, packed with info in a way that wasn't excessive. Well done Braincraft team, you guys are certainly coming into your element.

[cynsen]

I would say yes. I keep a secret for years, and when I let it go, I could literally feel the weight lifting off my shoulders.

[TheCarlBrink]

This was a really good video. Loved it. Your videos are improving so much, keep it up.

[TrancorWD]

I feel like there is almost an equation that can be written out for how much a secret weighs me down. Its a mixture of -
Level of social acceptance,
How much it would effect someone else emotionally, if they find out,
The time spent dwelling on the secret (the information cascade) that would effect my opinion on it,
And how proud I am of what ever the situation / secret was, and hell, pride can be inflated!

(Social + Emotion) * Dwelling * (1/(Pride+1)) = Weight

[Huntracony]

I don't have a big secret myself, but I did have a friend who came out as bi to me not long ago, and I just saw the weight falling off of their shoulders. They're still keeping it secret for most of the world, but just having a few people to talk to about your big secret can relieve so much of the burden.

[Jadamog]

I think it depends on how many cells is your brain that can store the secrets, the stronger they are, the more they can hold and it wont feel so heavy

[SevenonFriday]

Question: is there a distinction between generally burdensome secrets like "I know who stole the money from the cafe" and those that are related to self-esteem, like "people wouldn't like me if they knew I am terrified of public speaking"?

[liranpiade]

Does this count as a rickroll? It's not that you did a fake link... You just did it in the video.