Relational secrecy is the intentional concealment of significant truth about oneself from another person, often for the purpose of protecting self-identity, avoiding social consequences, maintaining privacy, and building intimacy. It can be manifested in different forms such as lies, omissions, half-truths, silence, and evasive responses. Relational secrecy has been found to have numerous effects on mental health, operational performance, and relational trust. This article will discuss these effects and their implications.
Relational secrecy negatively affects one's mental health. Secrets are stressful, especially when they involve emotions, beliefs, values, identities, or desires that contradict one's public persona. The fear of being discovered can lead to anxiety, depression, guilt, shame, and low self-esteem. It can also cause relationship distress due to feelings of betrayal, disappointment, hurt, anger, and mistrust.
It can result in loneliness, isolation, and dysfunctional coping mechanisms like substance abuse, risky behaviors, or even suicide attempts.
Relational secrecy impacts operational performance. When employees keep secrets from each other, communication breaks down, leading to misinformation, misunderstandings, confusion, conflict, and missed opportunities. This can decrease productivity, efficiency, quality, innovation, safety, and team cohesion.
Secretive organizations are more prone to legal liabilities, financial losses, reputational damage, loss of clients/partners, and business failure.
Relational secrecy undermines relational trust. Trust is the belief that someone will not intentionally harm another person, based on their character, competence, and consistency.
Keeping secrets violates this trust by demonstrating a lack of integrity, transparency, and honesty. Moreover, secrets create suspicion, doubt, and mistrust, making people question their perceptions, interpretations, and assumptions about others. Consequently, relationships become less safe, intimate, supportive, enjoyable, and meaningful. As a result, they may end prematurely or be avoided altogether.
Relational secrecy has far-reaching effects on mental health, operational performance, and relational trust. It can lead to stress, anxiety, depression, relationship distress, low self-esteem, decreased productivity, legal issues, financial losses, reputational damage, loss of clients/partners, and early termination of relationships. Therefore, it is crucial to avoid secrecy, communicate openly, and foster mutual trust through honesty, authenticity, empathy, vulnerability, accountability, forgiveness, and mutual respect.
In what ways does relational secrecy affect mental health, operational performance, and relational trust?
Relational secrecy can have both positive and negative effects on mental health, operational performance, and relational trust. On one hand, it may be necessary for individuals to keep certain information private to maintain confidentiality or avoid embarrassment; however, this secrecy can also lead to feelings of guilt, shame, and isolation. Secrecy has been linked with lower levels of self-esteem, higher rates of anxiety and depression, and decreased life satisfaction.