The cognitive consequences of secrecy.

Abstract

Four research paradigms explored links from secrecy to the suppression and intrusive recurrence of secret thoughts. In Study I, keeping a word secret enhanced cognitive accessibility of the word on a Stroop color-naming task. Study 2 revealed that secret memory topics were recalled earlier than topics about which a lie or the truth was told. Study 3 showed that when participants were keeping secrets, their ratings ofsuppression and intrusive thinking ofthe secret became positively correlated. Study 4 participants rated 50 everyday topics for intrusiveness, suppression, and secrecy. Across topics, positive mean within-subject correlations were found among these variables.