Endocrinology of human relationship initiation

University Of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara CA

Investigators

Abstract

How do individuals create strong, enduring interpersonal relationships? Given that positive social ties predict health and longevity, it is critical to understand how we initiate, form and maintain these vital interpersonal connections. This research will test one important component of this question: what psychological and biological factors predict whether one chooses to initiate a friendship or romantic relationship with another? James Roney (University of California, Santa Barbara) will examine the psychobiology of relationship formation, testing whether changes in hormones during an initial social encounter predict whether someone wants to begin a relationship with a partner. The PI will experimentally manipulate feelings of closeness in initial social encounters with others, and will measure hormone changes in response to this interaction. He will also test their desire to initiate romantic or friendship-based relationships with their partners. This will allow a test of whether hormone responses when interacting with a potential relationship partner act as a "chemical code" that predicts partner choice and relationship pursuit. The studies will measure changes in testosterone and estrogen (sex hormones implicated in human mating psychology), cortisol (a hormone that mobilizes energy availability), and oxytocin (a hormone implicated in social bonding); data analyses will also test the extent to which these hormone changes predict desire for relationship initiation. Achievement of these objectives will advance our basic understanding of the biological signals implicated in human social encounters. In addition, enhanced understanding of the endocrine mechanisms involved in human social interactions may help identify physiological signatures of social disorders. For example, individuals with social anxiety or high loneliness may have atypical hormone responses to social interactions, but knowledge of the typical physiological responses found in people without such conditions is necessary to test such possibilities. Thus, in addition to advancing basic science, this research holds the potential to construct typical baselines against which atypical responses could be detected.