Anita Kelly
Professor of Psychology
Office: 108 Haggar Hall
Phone: 574-631-7048
Email: kelly.79@nd.edu
Areas of Expertise
Secrets, confidentiality
An expert on secrets/confidentiality, Kelly’s research focuses on how people construct their identities through presenting either negative or positive information about themselves to others. She has been studying self-presentational processes in both clinical contexts and everyday interactions, and currently, she is assessing the role of the confidant (e.g., counselors or friends) in determining whether people benefit from revealing their negative, personal secrets. In addition, she has examined how keeping secrets from one’s self, or engaging in thought suppression, may lead to problems for some people but may be an effective thought-control strategy for others. Kelly is author of “The Psychology of Secrets” and has developed a model for when people should and should not reveal their secrets to various confidants.
ND EXPERTS
Keeping secrets not always harmful
