Some Factors in Perceived Unwanted Transparency

Abstract

The feeling experienced when another person seemingly notices something about them that they would rather conceal from others is referred to as a sense of unwanted transparency. Effects of perception of others on one's sense of unwanted transparency were investigated. Participants, after being led to believe that they had performed poorly on an important ability test, interacted with an instructor who was apparently unaware of their poor performance. Participants' perception of the instructor was manipulated by the self-introduction of the instructor, either as a person who perceived the participants' inner selves or as a person who did not. Analysis indicated that participants interacting with an instructor who they believed could perceive their inner selves rated the sense of unwanted transparency higher than those interacting with an instructor who they believed could not perceive their inner selves.

Cues for Inferring Secrets Held by Others during Social Interactions

“…These findings provide hints about the sense of unwanted transparency, the sense experienced when another person appears to notice something during an interaction that one would rather not have noticed (Tabata, 2007(Tabata, , 2008(Tabata, , 2009). Tabata (2008) suggested that silent pauses and aversion of gaze arising from the sense of unwanted transparency may not feel natural to the viewer.…”

Factors Related to the Sensitivity to Unwanted Transparency

“…The feeling experienced during a social interaction by a person when another seemingly notices something about the person that he would rather conceal has been defined as the sense of unwanted transparency (Tabata, 2007). It has been suggested that most people experience the sense of unwanted transparency (Tabata & Yoshida, 2008).…”

“…It has been suggested that most people experience the sense of unwanted transparency (Tabata & Yoshida, 2008). Several studies investigating the concept have mainly focused on two aspects: factors associated with the intensity of the sense of unwanted transparency (e.g., Tabata, 2006Tabata, , 2007 and responses arising from the sense of unwanted transparency (e.g., Tabata, 2008). It has been proposed that self-focused attention (Tabata, 2006) and perceptions of others (Tabata, 2007) may affect the intensity of the sense of unwanted transparency.…”