FAMILY SECRETS - FORMS, FUNCTIONS AND CORRELATES

What types of information do families keep secret? What are the functi ons that family members perceive secrets to serve? Is secrecy associat ed with family satisfaction? Two studies were conducted to examine suc h issues. The first study revealed that family secrets fall into three categories: taboos, rule violations and conventional secrets. Functio ns of secrets involve bonding, evaluation, maintenance, privacy, defen se or communication problems. In the second study, the number of secre ts that family members perceived their family to hold in comparison to other families was inversely correlated with family satisfaction. In addition, individuals' perception that some of their family members he ld secrets concerning taboo topics from other members was negatively r elated to satisfaction. Overall, results suggest that the association between secrecy and family satisfaction is influenced by the form, top ic and function of the secret.