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Need for Privacy

Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences

Synonyms

Desire to be left alone; Need for anonymity; Need for intimacy; Need for reserve; Need for solitude; Need for withdrawal

Definition

An individual’s need to selectively control the access of others to the individual = self with the aim of achieving a desired level of physical or psychological privacy – in other words, a form of solitude, intimacy, anonymity, or reserve.

Introduction

People want privacy under many circumstances. In fact, when people say “I want my privacy” or claim “Privacy please!” the message behind these demands can have several meanings. In one situation, it could simply mean that the person wants to be left alone. Under other circumstances, however, an individual may want to emphasize that another person is not allowed to know about a certain type of information, or the individual may want to prevent unwanted enquiries. From time to time, people seek physical or mental conditions under which they feel free from surveillance or interference by others, or...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Media Psychology, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany

    Sabine Trepte & Philipp K. Masur

Authors
  1. Sabine Trepte
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  2. Philipp K. Masur
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sabine Trepte .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Virgil Zeigler-Hill

  2. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Institute of Psychology, University of Lodz, Smugowa 10/12, 91-433, Lodz, Poland

    Monika Wróbel

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Trepte, S., Masur, P.K. (2017). Need for Privacy. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_540-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_540-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Need for Privacy
    Published:
    19 September 2017

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_540-2

  2. Original

    Need for Privacy
    Published:
    03 April 2017

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_540-1

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