Just be real with me: Perceived partner authenticity promotes relationship initiation via shared reality

Abstract

Relationships are a critical component of professional life, yet people often experience difficulties forming workplace bonds. We examine the impact of perceiving one’s interaction partner as authentic in an initial encounter as a key driver of relationship initiation through shared reality. Study 1, a longitudinal field study of professional networking events, revealed that perceived partner authenticity predicted relationship initiation four weeks later. Study 2 found pre-registered experimental evidence for the relationship between perceived partner authenticity and relationship initiation. Study 3 replicated these effects between pairs of new acquaintances working on a collaborative task and found that shared reality mediated the link between perceived partner authenticity and relationship initiation. In Study 4, these effects persisted for observable authenticity behaviors in conversations. Finally, Studies 5a-5b tested the causal effect of perceived partner authenticity on relationship initiation through increased shared reality. Overall, our results suggest that perceiving one’s partner as authentic during initial professional encounters promotes relationship initiation by fostering shared reality.