The Effect Of Self-disclosure On Romantic Interest

In life,people often refer to the process of establishing a romantic relationship between heterosexual individuals as “falling in love”.Why “talk” and “what to talk about” are issues that people care about and confuse.In psychology,the process by which individuals verbally reveal information about themselves(including their experiences,thoughts,feelings,etc.)to others is called self-disclosure.Self-disclosure can be divided into deep and shallow disclosure according to the level of intimacy.In the realm of intimate relationship,self-disclosure dynamically shapes romantic relationships and is central to the establishment and development of romantic relationships.Previous research has found that self-disclosure has a promoting effect on liking,individuals are more likely to form positive evaluations of potential romantic partners when they engage in deep self-disclosure,thereby facilitating liking of potential romantic partners.Liking,as a strong positive emotion,is a prerequisite for romantic interest,but it is not the same as romantic interest.Romantic interest is the expression by one or both parties of a desire to enter into a romantic relationship characterized by commitment,psychological or emotional intimacy,and possible sexual contact,and is a stronger and more romantic motivation than liking.Although studies have shown a promoting effect of self-disclosure on liking,there is no direct evidence to verify whether a similar promoting effect of self-disclosure on romantic interest would exist.If such a promoting effect exists,the neural mechanisms underlying it worthy to be further explored.Therefore,this study examines the effect of self-disclosure on romantic interest and its underlying neural mechanisms through behavioral research and functional near-infrared spectroscopy(f NIRS)based on hyperscanning.Experiment 1 aimed to investigate the effect of self-disclosure on romantic interest in the context of one-way communication.A single-factor between-subjects design was used,with the intimacy of self-disclosure(deep disclosure vs.shallow disclosure)of potential romantic partners as the independent variable and romantic interest as the dependent variable.A total of211 single heterosexual participants were randomly assigned to watch 5 self-disclosure videos(deep disclosure or shallow disclosure)of potential romantic partners,and filled out the romantic interest questionnaire for these partners after each video was watched.The result revealed that self-disclosure had a significant effect on romantic interest.Specifically,individuals showed greater romantic interest in potential romantic partners with deep selfdisclosure compared with those potential romantic partners with shallow self-disclosure.The result of Experiment 1 suggests that in the context of one-way communication,the selfdisclosure of potential romantic partners has a promoting effect on individuals’ romantic interest.Experiment 2 was designed to investigate the effect of self-disclosure on romantic interest in a natural context of two-way communication(using the speed-dating paradigm).A total of96 single heterosexual participants were recruited to participate in speed dating in a coffee shop.A group of 8 people(4 men and 4 women)was used for each date,and each participant was required to complete the gaze task(3 seconds)and the communication task(3 minutes)with 4opposite-sex dating partners.Among them,in the communication task,the intimacy of selfdisclosure was manipulated by the topic of self-disclosure(deep topic or shallow topic),and the dating parties conducted mutual self-disclosure in the form of taking turns asking questions.After completing both the gaze and communication tasks,questionnaires about romantic interest in potential romantic partners were completed.The results indicated that individuals showed significantly higher romantic interest in potential romantic partners after the communication task than during the gaze task.However,in the communication task,the intimacy of self-disclosure did not have a significant effect on romantic interest.The results suggest that self-disclosure can promote romantic interest,but the intimacy of self-disclosure was not found to significantly affect romantic interest,which may be because the communication time is too short,which limits the depth of disclosure of the topic among daters,and the dating environment is too noisy,these affected the manipulative effect for the intimacy of self-disclosure.Experiment 3 aims to further examine the effect of self-disclosure on romantic interest in two-way communication and explore its neural mechanism.The independent variable was the intimacy self-disclosure(deep disclosure vs.shallow disclosure),and the dependent variables were romantic interest(behavioral index)and interpersonal brain synchronization(IBS,neural index).In order to reduce environmental interference,this study was carried out in a laboratory environment.A total of 70 single heterosexual participants came to the laboratory one-on-one.The dating parties need to complete 3 experimental tasks: gaze task(3.5 minutes-baseline condition),reading task(6 minutes-control condition)and communication task(6 minutesexperimental condition).The intimacy of self-disclosure was manipulated by the topic of selfdisclosure(deep topic or shallow topic)in the communication task,and the dating partners conducted mutual self-disclosure in the form of sharing in turn.In the process of performing each task,participants wore near-infrared brain imaging equipment,and their blood oxygen activity of the cortex was recorded throughout the process.After each completed task,participants are required to fill out a romantic interest questionnaire.Behavioral results showed that the intimacy of self-disclosure had a marginally significant effect on romantic interest,and romantic interest was significantly higher under the condition of deep disclosure than that of shallow disclosure.The f NIRS results showed that during deep self-disclosure,the IBS in the left frontopolar was significantly higher than that of shallow self-disclosure.Furthermore,increases in IBS in the left frontopolar significantly and positively predicted romantic interest when dating partners engaged in self-disclosure,especially when both partners engaged in shallow self-disclosure.These results suggest that IBS in the left frontopolar may be an underlying neural mechanism by which self-disclosure affects romantic interest.In summary,this study examined the effect of self-disclosure on romantic interest through three experiments,and used f NIRS hyperscanning to investigate its neural mechanism.Based on these results,the following conclusions can be drawn:(1)The intimacy of self-disclosure has a significant promoting effect on romantic interest.Specifically,compared with shallow self-disclosure,deep self-disclosure will produce higher romantic interest.(2)Increased IBS in the left frontopolar during self-disclosure may be an underlying neural mechanism by which the intimacy of self-disclosure promotes romantic interest.The results of this study are helpful in understanding the formation of romantic interest in theory.And in practice,it inspires young men and women not only to “do things” together in the initial stage of romantic love,but also to “talk about themselves”,and it is best to “open up and disclosure themselves”.