Mind & behavior · 2012
Do people value the chance to talk about themselves enough to give up money?
Yes—participants in human studies were willing to give up money for opportunities to talk about themselves. This supports the idea that sharing personal thoughts and feelings has value in itself, though the abstract does not say how much money they gave up or describe the exact choice conditions.
Details
The researchers tested whether communicating personal thoughts and feelings is rewarding in itself. Five studies supported this idea: talking about oneself was strongly associated with greater activity in brain regions involved in reward, and participants were willing to forgo money for the opportunity to do it.
Two additional studies indicated that both thinking about oneself and sharing information with others had value independently. This suggests that the appeal of talking about ourselves may involve both parts, rather than sharing alone.
The findings support a possible explanation for why people share personal experiences; they do not establish a universal motive. The abstract gives no participant characteristics, sample sizes, exact task comparisons or amounts of money forgone. Reward-related brain activity is also an association, not proof that everyone finds every personal disclosure enjoyable.
What do you think?
Good conversations begin with curiosity.
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