This National Science Foundation Project Grant award of $525,000 supports research on concealing infectious disease at the University of Michigan from April 2022 through March 2025. The project aims to better understand decisions to conceal infectious illness and the psychological consequences of doing so.
Specifically, the award will fund a series of descriptive studies and experiments to examine factors associated with concealing sickness from friends, coworkers, and strangers depending on transmission risk, harm severity, and illness longevity. The studies will also assess whether concealing illness causes changes in cognitive functioning, social relationships, and moral judgment. Additionally, psychological processes related to concealing infectious conditions will be compared to those involved in concealing non-infectious secrets and stigmatized identities.
The research is intended to inform public health efforts to mitigate disease spread and associated workplace challenges, as well as improve the welfare of infected individuals by advancing knowledge around barriers to revealing conditions and resulting cognitive and emotional impacts. The funding falls under the National Science Foundation's Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences program (CFDA 47.075).
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