Women can't keep a secret for more than 47 hours..

[Mahuta ♥]

So I came across this article about the whole issue of women not being able to keep secrets.

This is not sexist, because as you can see, I am girl..

Researchers found that women are overcome by a burning desire to share gossip as soon as they hear it.

They will typically spill the beans to at least one other person in 47 hours and 15 minutes.

Depending on who the gossip is about, their boyfriend, husband, best friend or mother are most likely to be the initial recipients of the information.

The study of 3,000 women aged between 18 and 65 also found that four out of ten admitted they were unable to keep a secret – no matter how personal or confidential the news was.

It also found that alcohol usually gives us a helping hand to blurt out secrets – with more than half admitting a glass or two of wine could prompt them to dish the dirt.

Michael Cox, UK Director of Wines of Chile, which commissioned the research to mark Chile's National Day on Friday, said: "It's official – women can't keep secrets.

"We were really keen to find out with this survey how many secrets people are told. What we didn't bank on was how quickly these are passed on by those we confide in.

"No matter how precious the piece of information, it's often out in the public domain within 48 hours.

"That means every single Brit who has confided in a friend should be worried because they don't know where their secret is heading.

"The fact they offload gossip to someone completely unrelated to the matter or in a different social group can be comforting but while nine in ten girls deem themselves trustworthy – they still have spilt the beans.

"And juicy gossip can really flow after a couple of glasses of wine."

The study found the nation's ladies hear three nuggets of gossip a week, but end up passing it on to at least one other person.

Six in 10 end up telling someone completely uninvolved so the person the secret belongs to won't know.

Three in 10 admitted having the urge to reveal someone's secret. Nearly half (45 per cent) disclose secrets just for the weight to be lifted from their shoulders.

However, two thirds end up feeling guilty are passing on secrets.

Three quarters say they are capable of keeping quiet about a secret, and 83 per cent consider themselves 100 per cent trustworthy within each group of friends.

Yet, four in ten admit to gossiping to a close friend from another friendship group.

More than four in ten think it is acceptable to share a friend's secret with someone who does not know them, with over 40 per cent saying their husband is their ultimate confidant.

Intimate issues, true cost of purchases and affairs emerged top of the secret-keeping list, with girls most likely to share a secret chatting face-to-face, on the phone or via a text message.

Fortunately for some though, over a quarter (27 per cent) said they forgot what they were told the following day.

The parts underlined are the ones I found funny.

What do you think?

Girls- Do you admit that? Which sector do you belong to from the ones mentioned? If you do admit it, from your personal point of view; why weren't you able to keep that secret?

Guys- Do you believe in this? Have you ever told a secret to a girl and it was out before you knew it? If you can think of any reason -besides the ones mentioned- of why girls may not be able to keep secrets..please tell us.

[Daedalus]

Come onnn this is a study! You can't dispute statistics with personal anecdotes..

[Bishup]

This is a bit of an odd study but in terms of experience it couldn't be closer to the truth

[dessskris]

I would agree with the study. Women really cannot keep secrets. I sometimes can, but only a few secrets (especially my own secrets) that should not be publicly known. However, I need to admit that once I tell my friend a secret, even though I have told her not to tell anybody, she will still tell somebody else.

I once told my friend a very personal secret, and I asked her not to tell anybody. The next day, a number of people know it. I asked her whether she told anybody else and she said: "yeah I told them, but they promised me not to tell anybody else." and apparently those to whom she told my secret did the same thing. Phew.

I think that it is okay to share my friend's secret to somebody who does not know them as long as I do not say the name. I just feel that some secrets are worth knowing for other people, as an experience; for example, people should know if sexual violence happens (to a friend of mine maybe) including how it could happen, so they can learn from this experience to prevent it in the future.

[Summer Glau]

I think it depends on the person. I can keep secrets but I'm not really a chatty person. I admit I am tempted to tell sometimes but then I immediately feel guilty and then I don't say anything. But then again I have come across girls who can't keep secrets and even people who like to start rumours and get attention from sharing secrets. It's a sad way of getting attention but I've seen it happen. It really depends on the person, in my opinion, not so much the actual secret.

Btw I think guys gossip almost as much as girls do

[Mahuta ♥]

Fair enough, I can keep secrets, but not all and not for that long.

For example, a cousin of mine told me a secret of how he did sometihng to another cousin of mine (girl) because he was trying to protect her. This girl cousin got so freaked out from what was done and went insane because she did not know who did it, but I knew! I was actually able to keep a secret for a day and a half actually, that's because both of them were with me the WHOLE time and they couldn't stop talking about what happened to her. (Boy cousin pretending he has no idea).

Btw I think guys gossip almost as much as girls do

I would definately agree. I think girls gossip out loud..even if not out loud..I gossip to you..you gosssip to someone else..etc..etc. So technically..that is gossiping out loud.

Guys on the other hand, they gossip quietly. They would talk about this guy friend having a major crush on a girl, but they'll just do that in their own group of friends..not to everyone. I think that's because girls' social skills tend me to much better than guys..no offence. In other words, girl easily become friends with random girls if they see they have things in common.

That being said, not all girls are like!

[solastalgia]

Uhhh, here are my two cents. There are obviously exceptions to this (and I do have friends that are girls that are very trustworthy). But girls do generally love to gossip. Knowing secrets and having that power is thrilling to them, I guess. I wouldn't know because I'm not a girl and I tend to stay out of the realm of gossip. This definitely doesn't make them bad people, though! Just a bit more complex than guys, who are simple and open.

But like I said... it depends on the person. Some guys are huge gossipers, some girls I can trust with anything. Girls can be catty, but guys can act rashly. In the end it's easier to judge these kinds of things on a case-by-case basis rather than pinpoint an exact character of either gender.

Edited October 9, 2010 by solastalgia

[Daedalus]

Fair enough, I can keep secrets, but not all and not for that long.

For example, a cousin of mine told me a secret of how he did sometihng to another cousin of mine (girl) because he was trying to protect her. This girl cousin got so freaked out from what was done and went insane because she did not know who did it, but I knew! I was actually able to keep a secret for a day and a half actually, that's because both of them were with me the WHOLE time and they couldn't stop talking about what happened to her. (Boy cousin pretending he has no idea).

Btw I think guys gossip almost as much as girls do

I would definately agree. I think girls gossip out loud..even if not out loud..I gossip to you..you gosssip to someone else..etc..etc. So technically..that is gossiping out loud.

Guys on the other hand, they gossip quietly. They would talk about this guy friend having a major crush on a girl, but they'll just do that in their own group of friends..not to everyone. I think that's because girls' social skills tend me to much better than guys..no offence. In other words, girl easily become friends with random girls if they see they have things in common.

That being said, not all girls are like!

LOL I love how you know better than us what we are like. Maybe the reason guys don't make friends with every other person they meet is they have standards for friendship, standards for morality in other people. In my experience girls are much more likely to backstab, pretend to be friends with someone while actually hating them, etc. Does that make you more socially skilled? I don't know.

And no, we don't "gossip quietly": there's no such thing. We just don't gossip. We make fun of people and we talk about stuff but when we're between guys we don't talk about other people behind their backs. And no, we don't talk about a guy having a major crush on a girl unless the guy is there with us.

And as for secrets? Trust me, guys can keep secrets.

[~Lc~]

This sounds like a study conducted by the Sun. Not everything labeled as a study is actually credible information half of the processes of picking topics to research within the social sciences, is identifying whether or not the topic can be measures or analysed qualitatively or quantitatively. This study does neither

[Mahuta ♥]

Fine, ignore the study. lol

Imagine the article isn't there.

Daedalus:

they have standards for friendship, standards for morality in other people. In my experience girls are much more likely to backstab, pretend to be friends with someone while actually hating them, etc. Does that make you more socially skilled? I don't know.

Not necessarily. I have close friends and I know exactly what they mean to me. But I also socialize with other girls, that doesn't make me someone who doesn't have standards for friendship and morality!

Pretending to friends with someone I hate? Nope doesn't happen with me.

If I hate someone, trust me besides " 'morning" or "hi"..I do not talk to them.

[__inthemaking]

I have kept secrets for years. If I really feel the urge to tell someone, I just tell it to my private journal lol.

[~Lc~]

I wonder what social groups this was conducted in. If it was in Halls at a UK university, I can understand the results living in halls is 80% gossip involved conversation

[Mahuta ♥]

Nah, not a university, lol.

No idea where but it was a study of 3000 women between 18-65.

[Austin Glau]

I think it really depends on the women. Some talkative ones may slip it out, others are quite good. I have also noticed that Women are very good at keeping secrets when it has to do with them being pregnant.

[solastalgia]

I think it really depends on the women. Some talkative ones may slip it out, others are quite good. I have also noticed that Women are very good at keeping secrets when it has to do with them being pregnant.

Or, you know, STDs. That can really screw a guy over.

(Only kidding! )

[Mahuta ♥]

Haha nice one!

I have also noticed that Women are very good at keeping secrets when it has to do with them being pregnant.

You mean not telling everyone or not telling the guy?

[wombat123]

Haha, I often forget what I'm told. Once when one of my friends was trying to gossip with me, I had no idea what she was talking about and couldn't pick up on her hints, so she said, "See, this is why you're so good at keeping secrets! You always forget them!"

[Jazmine]

The answer: it depends on the person and the secret. The same can go for men as well. Different people have different views etc, but we cant base secret telling just on gender. I'm a girl and I am quite capable of keeping secrets for long periods of time. Just saying.