FILE - Customers purchase clothes at a supermarket on April 12, 2022 . (Liu Guanguan/China News Service via Getty Images)Relationships are built on trust — and it turns out minor spending secrets, too.
Although close relationships require openness, many partners at times choose not to tell the other about their consumer behaviors.
Yet this guilt leads to a greater investment in the relationship, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology.The study noted that "experiencing guilt from keeping a consumer behavior a secret — even one as mundane as secretly eating pizza — will lead individuals to want to do something positive for the relationship."7 SECRETS TO IMPROVE YOUR RELATIONSHIPS IN THE NEW YEARBut not all secrets are created equal, of course.Previous research noted that more serious acts of secrecy — such as having an extramarital affair — can be counterproductive for a relationship.
The study was inspired by one of the lead author’s former students, professor Danielle Brick of the University of Connecticut, who’s also a co-author on the study.FILE - U.S.