Yahoo News 
Most of us have 13 secrets (and five we’ve never told anyone)
Do you have any dark secrets you’ve never told anyone? Like a maxed-out credit card you’ve never admitted to?
Don’t worry too much – you’re not alone, according to research by Columbia Business School.
In fact, most of us are hanging on to more than a dozen secrets – including an average of five which we have never admitted to anyone.
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Michael Slepian and his colleagues broke down secrets into categories – such as telling a lie, harming someone, drug use, theft, violating someone’s trust, sexual infidelity, a secret hobby, and sexual orientation.
When they asked volunteers if they were keeping secrets related to these categories, they found that most people were keeping 13 secrets – and five super-secrets that they’ve never told a soul about.
For each person, there’s a 60% chance that a secret involves a lie or financial deception – and a 47% chance that one involves a violation of trust.
‘People have this curious way of talking about secrets as laying them down or unburdening them,’ said Michael Slepian.
‘We found that when people were thinking about their secrets, they actually acted as if they were burdened by physical weight. It seems to have this powerful effect even when they’re not hiding a secret in the moment.’
