UC Riverside

Self-disclosure is a powerful way for people to connect, yet few studies have examined how disclosers can build a sense of shared meaning with listeners. We investigated possible neural, linguistic, and vocal mechanisms through which listeners may come to understand disclosers more intimately. We found that across numerous brain regions, greater neural asynchrony between speakers and listeners was associated with greater shared meaning-making. We also found that people who felt more connected at baseline had greater neural asynchrony, and that asynchrony partially explained the positive relationship between baseline connection and shared meaning-making. In addition, we found that neural asynchrony during key moments of speech may facilitate shared meaning-making. In particular, greater neural asynchrony when speakers (1) talked more slowly and (2) paused more was associated with greater shared meaning. These findings shed light on key processes that enable successful communication, and contribute to a more nuanced theoretical framework for how people build shared understanding through self-disclosure.