Gender-specific interpersonal neural synchronization during same-gender closeness-building interactions among strangers: an fNIRS hyperscanning study

BMC Psychology

卷:14

Research

Yuhang Li^1,2  Shibo Zhou^2,3  Liutong Ou^2,4  Yilin Hu²  Xiuyun Lin⁵  Qi Zhao^1,6  Rihui Li^2,7  Peilian Chi^1,2 

[1] Institute of Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, 100875, Beijing, China

[2] Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Macau, Macau, Macau, SAR, China

[3] Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, Wichita State University, Kansas, Kansas, United States

[4] Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Macau, 999078, Macau SAR, China

[5] Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Brian Sciences, University of Macau, 999078, Macau SAR, China

[6] Chengdu Shuangqing Primary School, Chengdu, 610051, China

[7] School of Psychology, Hainan Normal University, 571158, Haikou, China

关键词: Hyperscanning;    Gender;    Friendship;    Relationship-building;    FNIRS;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s40359-026-05129-6

 received in 2026-02-25, accepted in 2026-07-02,  发布年份 2026

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundSelf-disclosure, sharing of personal information, is crucial for initiating and deepening interpersonal relationships. Although it has been consistently shown that mutual self-disclosure fosters closeness between strangers, the underlying dual brain neural mechanism remains unexplored. This study aims to uncover these gender-modulated differences and their underlying neural mechanisms.MethodWe investigated the interpersonal neural synchronization (INS) among zero-history, same-gender strangers. We applied the functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning technique to simultaneously measure the brain hemodynamic activities of 32 female and 30 male dyads. Participants engaged in an adapted Fast Friends paradigm, featuring a naturalistic interaction progression from superficial "small talk" to incrementally escalating levels of mutual self-disclosure.ResultsThe structured interactions elicited significant increases in self-disclosure, emotional arousal, and perceived interpersonal closeness as the tasks progressed from the no-disclosure stage to increasingly intimate self-disclosure stages. This psychological escalation was accompanied by significantly enhanced INS between the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and temporoparietal junction (TPJ) exclusively during the deep self-disclosure stage relative to the no-disclosure stage. Crucially, gender significantly moderated the relationship between this cross-regional coupling and relationship-building outcomes (closeness: β = -0.386, p_FDR = .025). For female-female dyads, INS significantly mediated the relationship between self-disclosure and closeness (indirect effect = 0.03); however, these associative and mediation pathways were entirely absent in male-male dyads.ConclusionThese findings illuminate the dual-brain neural underpinnings of relationship initiation, highlighting that relationship formation between females may rely more heavily on emotional verbal expression and INS than their male peers. This advances theoretical models of social cognition and offers insights into developing strategies for various social settings.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2026

【 图 表 】

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