Toward a Theory of Concealment

Abstract

Concealment, or withholding information from others, is of fundamental sociological interest. Yet, a general theoretical framework of concealment is missing from the sociological cannon. This paper specifies a model that builds upon, and moves beyond, existing accounts of concealment by emphasizing the desire for autonomy. I propose that desire for autonomy, and the subjective assessment of concealment as the best route to achieve autonomy, are necessary for individuals to attempt concealment. After specifying a dyadic model based on the concealer (ego) and the target of concealment (alter), I incorporate ego-alter power differentials as well as norms about privacy and concealment into a multilevel model of how concealment is initiated and maintained. The theoretical and empirical implications of this model of concealment are discussed.

A Mouthful of Diamonds and a Pocketful of Secrets: Mapping Concealment and its Normative Foundations

“…There is also support for the idea that individuals may adopt concealment as a means of gaining freedom from the control of others (Simmel 1950;Ross 1973;Stattin and Kerr 2000;Jensen 2004). Building from this, and testing the recent theoretical work explicitly linking autonomy desire to concealment (Grigoryeva 2020), we propose that when person A desires autonomy, they are more likely to conceal information from others, as concealment reduces access to information about A and the ability of others to exert control over A. We argue that the desire for autonomy works in tandem with other motivations to conceal, such as self-interest, altruism, role performance, and relationship maintenance.…”

“…Concealment can differ as a function of acceptability (lying may be less socially acceptable than secrecy), the matters being concealed (some matters require false narratives rather than mere omission), and the degree of participation (some forms of concealment require active, rather than passive, maintenance). In spite of this variation, all forms of concealment constitute strategies of intentionally denying someone knowledge (Bueller and Burgoon 1996;Grigoryeva 2020). The aim of the present paper, then, is to model concealment across a range of topics, regardless of the strategies used (e.g., lying, obfuscation, secret keeping, etc.…”

“…Concealment can be thought of as a process that includes concealment intentions, which bring about a concealment attempt. If the attempt is successful, it generates information gaps between the concealer and the person who is the target of concealment (Grigoryeva 2020). Concealment can differ as a function of acceptability (lying may be less socially acceptable than secrecy), the matters being concealed (some matters require false narratives rather than mere omission), and the degree of participation (some forms of concealment require active, rather than passive, maintenance).…”

“…Drawing on recent theoretical treatments of concealment (Grigoryeva 2020), we propose that concealment is a function of (1) a desire for autonomy, and (2) norms of concealment. First, we argue that individuals conceal as a means to gain autonomy.…”

“…A term that originates from political philosophy, autonomy has been conceptualized in a number of different ways: as freedom from political domination, as the capacity to reflect and think rationally, as the ability to realize one's desires, as personal freedom and individualization, and as authenticity (Westin 1967;Simmel 1950;Aviram 1995;Reindal 1999;Ryan and Deci 2006). Building from contemporary work in social psychology and classic work on privacy, we define autonomy as a person's subjective evaluation of whether they are free from the control or influence of a given alter with regard to a given matter (Grigoryeva 2020;Jensen 2004;Westin 1967).…”