New Paper in Psychoneuroendocrinology

Does revealing more about oneself during a conversation with a new acquaintance predict greater similarity in cortisol changes with that person? Our new research in Psychoneuroendocrinology suggests that it does. In this research, pairs of new acquaintances asked each other personal questions. We measured self-disclosure—how much people revealed personal information to one another—while they were talking, and we also measured people's cortisol responses before and after the conversations. We found that self-disclosure was associated with more similarity in cortisol reactivity from before to after the conversation between dyad members. 

This research demonstrates one social process associated with cortisol similarity between people during early relationship formation and, in doing so, reveals a new process through which our physiological functioning may become tied to those around us—even those we have just met. For more details on this work, please see the paper here!