How can people connect more deeply through self-disclosure? Testing the linguistic, nonverbal, and neural mechanisms of successful communication

Loneliness is a growing threat to health, productivity, and well-being. To combat its consequences, it is increasingly important to find ways for people to connect with others. One way people can build social connection is through sharing their experiences with others (i.e., self-disclosure). Successful self-disclosure allows listeners to gain a better understanding of the speaker's experiences, deeper insights into who they are, and ultimately, better social connection. However, self-disclosure does not always achieve this goal. This work explores when and how self-disclosure promotes social connection, shedding light on how conversation partners develop shared understandings. The findings set the stage for future interventions to develop communication strategies to promote social connection. To achieve these goals, the current work addresses two crucial issues. In its first aim, the work identifies self-disclosure strategies that enable individuals to effectively convey their experiences to listeners. Surprisingly, there has been limited research on how people help listeners understand them. The challenge lies in accurately measuring shared understanding without disrupting listeners or relying solely on their subjective assessments. Neural synchrony, which measures the extent to which two brains process events similarly over time, has emerged as a mechanism that helps listeners comprehend the details of speakers' experiences. By observing how two brains link together (using neuroimaging techniques) from one moment to the next without interrupting the natural experience of communication, this study uncovers the linguistic (e.g., emotional, vivid, and reflective language) and nonverbal (e.g., vocal patterns, silent pauses, speech rate) elements of disclosures that promote successful communication. In its second aim, the current work seeks to discover how conversation partners develop a sense of shared meaning. It remains unknown whether neural synchrony enables listeners to move beyond a basic understanding of speakers’ experiences and gain deeper insight into their personality traits, motivations, and life stories. Thus, the current research measures how people develop shared interpretations of the nuanced information speakers seek to convey about themselves during self-disclosure to examine the extent to which neural synchrony helps listeners understand the deeper meaning of a speaker’s disclosure beyond just getting the facts straight. These findings contribute to an enhanced theoretical framework for how self-disclosure fosters shared understanding between people and help future scholars develop strategies for building social connection. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.