Who keeps secrets better; Men or Women?

Does keeping someone’s secret safe have anything do to with gender? Many have argued that they feel safer pouring out their hearts to a particular set of people. So, which group of people would most likely to divulge information bequeathed to them in trust – Men or Women? And why?

Secrets revolve around issues ranging from relationships, who are having an affair, who is pregnant, and who is struggling to make ends meet. Other issues such as who just came into a lot of money, and who did or didn’t get a raise at work are also potential topics of discussions between either males/females and their friends or between couples.

At some point, we may have shared some pretty big secrets with friends and family members that we don’t do so well in keeping.

But then big question is who keeps secrets better, men or women?

“Keeping secrets has nothing to do with gender or age. It depends on the personality of the individual and also what he/she considers a secret,” said Mercy Ekpe, a mother of two.

She added “what may be a secret for you, may not be a secret or big deal for another person. Your secret may be news for someone. Once you have shared it, it is no more a secret. And remember that walls have ears too.”

Cynthia, a Youth Corps member, believes it’s the men that keep secrets better.

Buttressing her point, she said ‘‘Women cannot keep secrets, especially when they are hurt, so to get back at the person who hurt them especially if it is a fellow woman, they begin to tell everyone who cares to listen all they know about that person.”

“And the reason why I said men keep secrets better than women is because whatever they discuss among themselves stays within them. They do not have the time to go about discussing it with others, whether they eventually get hurt by each other or not.”

Jummai Austin tells LifeXtra, “I think women keep secrets better because, believe it or not, women are in the position to get more information from people due to their role as caregivers. For instance, the mother is generally the person all the family members gravitate towards. As such, she is bound to know or hear more things.”

“I can categorically tell you that women do not divulge half of what they have been told, observed or found out,” she concluded.

The article ‘Top 6 Reasons: Why women can’t keep secrets’, by Pravin Agrawal, stated, ‘‘It is said that women are from Venus and men are from Mars. Women are always ready to share their thoughts whereas men aren’t. Especially, when they are asked to keep a secret, it is almost impossible for them and they tend to share the information.’’

The article also added, “Men are not left behind either. They also reveal secrets. Researchers have found that in case of men, alcohol usually gives a helping hand to blurt out secrets. Most men tend to open up secrets under the influence of heavy drinking”