ABSTRACT
Continuing in the great tradition of self-disclosure research, Anita Vangelisti pioneered the study of secrets, particularly family secrets. Since the early 1990s, she has investigated the forms, functions, and topics of family secrets and has devised instruments to measure these variables as well. Although Vangelisti initially focused on the functions served by concealing family secrets (e.g., Vangelisti, 1994), more recently, revealing family secrets has been the focus of her research efforts. Realizing that sharing family secrets can have an enormous impact on, and consequences for, personal as well as relational outcomes, Anita Vangelisti, John Caughlin, and Lindsay Timmerman (2001) sought to uncover the criteria people use to determine whether or not to reveal a secret. Specifically, they were interested in what factors contribute to the revelation of secrets held by all family members and kept private from outsiders.
