182. Is It Good or Bad to Keep Secrets?

No Stupid Questions

Should you shout your sins from the rooftops? How many skeletons are in the average person’s closet? And what has Angela been hiding?

• SOURCES:
  • Maya Angelou, memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist.
  • Stephen Baum, postdoctoral researcher at Olin Business School at Washington University.
  • Clayton Critcher, professor of marketing, cognitive science, and psychology at Berkeley Haas School of Business.
  • John Legend, singer-songwriter and pianist.
  • Kareem Abdul Jabbar, former professional basketball player.
  • Michael Slepian, professor of leadership and ethics at Columbia Business School.
  • Jason Sudeikis, actor, writer, and producer.
  • Chrissy Teigen, model and TV personality.
  • Vauhini Vara, journalist and author.
  • Lindsey Vonn, alpine ski racer.
  • John Wooden, men’s basketball coach at the University of California, Los Angeles.

• RESOURCES:
  • "The Bright Side of Secrecy: The Energizing Effect of Positive Secrets," by Michael Slepian, Katharine Greenaway, Nicholas Camp, and Adam Galinsky (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2023).
  • "Ghosts," by Vauhini Vara (The Believer, 2021).
  • "The Costs of Not Disclosing," by Stephen Baum and Clayton Critcher (Current Opinion in Psychology, 2020).
  • "Why the Secrets You Keep Are Hurting You," by Michael Slepian (Scientific American, 2019).
  • "The Benefits and Burdens of Keeping Others' Secrets," by Michael Slepian and Katharine Greenaway (Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 2018).
  • "The Experience of Secrecy," by Michael Slepian, Jinseok Chun, and Malia Mason (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2017).
  • Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court, by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (2017).
  • "Survey Says 1 In 5 People Are Keeping A Major Secret From Their Spouse," by Taryn Hillin (HuffPost, 2014).

• EXTRAS:
  • Ted Lasso, TV show (2020-2023).
  • "All of Me," song by John Legend (2013).