A study has been conducted to investigate the relationship between polymeric structure and time-dependent autohesion, measured in terms of autohesive fracture energy, Q. Using the method of reduced variables, it was found that G, data as a function of contact time and temperature could be superposed into master curves of temperature-reduced contact times. Autohesion master curves developed in this fashion showed fracture resistance increasing with time along a logarithmic-type curve with monotonically decreasing slope. These data indicate that the generally accepted ½ power law dependency for autohesion only applies over a narrow range of contact times. Modelling of the experimental results was accomplished using a first-order kinetic equation derived to account for contact-area formation. Two diffusion-based models also provided good predictions in specific cases, most notably for the effect of molecular weight on time to equilibrium. However, evidence that diffusion is not the rate controlling process included the pronounced effects of contact pressure on autohesion and the identical timedependent behavior of nondiffusing crosslinked networks when compared with systems containing mobile polymeric chains.