General Theory of Concealment

• In Event: 3267 - Section on Communication, Information Technologies, and Media Sociology Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 5. Presentations of the Self and Audiences

Abstract

Despite the importance of concealment to social phenomena like trust, social influence, attitude formation, social exchange, and power, little sociological work has tackled concealment. This is in large part due to a lack of theoretical rigor in conceptualizing concealment, which has led to definitions that are incomplete, unclear, and hard to evaluate. This paper takes stock of existing definitions of concealment in economics, psychology, communications, and sociology and amends these to generate a general, precise, testable, and logically consistent theory of concealment. I also review what is empirically known about concealment, and outline a research program rooted in my theoretical model of concealment.

Author

• Maria Grigoryeva, University of Washington