When and why does shared reality generalize?

Inspired by inductive reasoning models, we test whether generalized shared reality (i.e., the sense of being on the same page) arises through probabilistic inference about latent commonalities. Using a naturalistic text-based chat paradigm, we manipulated whether conversation partners discussed a belief they shared, a belief on which their opinions differed, or a random prompt. Participants discussing shared opinions reported experiencing greater shared reality compared to those discussing differences or random topics. Moreover, participants who made broader inferences about additional beliefs they might share with their partners also reported greater shared reality. While discussing shared opinions can induce an overall greater sense of shared reality, participants discussing differences leveraged their conversation to establish shared realities about other topics. We demonstrate that shared reality can emerge in multiple ways during initial interactions, establishing a foundation for future mechanistic investigations within an inductive inference framework.