Neural similarity predicts whether strangers become friends

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Social Psychology
• Computational Social Science

Background:

• Friendship formation is influenced by proximity and similarity.
• Neuroimaging reveals shared neural processing among friends.
• Previous studies lack longitudinal data on whether neural similarity precedes friendship.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if neural similarity predicts future friendship formation and closeness.
• To determine if neural similarity emerges before or after social connection.
• To explore the role of neural similarity in the development and dissolution of friendships.

Main Methods:

• Acquired neuroimaging data of participants' responses to movie clips before they met.
• Assessed friendship network proximity at eight months post-meeting.
• Analyzed changes in social network distance between two and eight months.
• Controlled for sociodemographic similarities in analyses.

Main Results:

• Pre-existing neural similarity predicted greater proximity in the friendship network after eight months.
• Individuals who grew closer over six months showed higher neural similarity as strangers.
• Sociodemographic factors explained some initial neural similarity differences but not the longitudinal effect.

Conclusions:

• Pre-existing neural similarities are precursors to future friendship and increased social closeness.
• Deeper interpersonal compatibilities, indexed by neural similarity, may underlie longer-lasting friendships.
• Similarities in interpreting, attending to, and emotionally responding to surroundings predict friendship.