Toward a Theoretical Model of Behavioural Synchrony

Interpersonal synchrony -- moving in time and space with another person or persons -- should require effort to both achieve and maintain, and yet synchrony emerges frequently and spontaneously in many interactions. The prevalence of synchrony suggests that it must be sufficiently rewarding to offset its costs -- and, indeed, this is borne out by research documenting the diverse positive outcomes of synchrony (e.g., greater rapport and desire for affiliation, more secure mother-infant attachment, improved cooperative ability, increased attention to and memory for interaction partners). Nonetheless, to the best of our knowledge, there have been no attempts to date to provide or test a coherent theoretical framework for understanding the processes that underlie the frequency and spontaneity of synchronisation behaviour and make synchrony rewarding. As such, the proposed research will provide the first data that speak to the questions of why and when synchrony and its outcomes occur. In short, we seek to demonstrate that synchrony lowers information-processing costs, expands resources and capacities, affirms self and kind, and enhances goal attainment.
The proposed research makes use of two novel manipulations of synchrony: music-directed movement and computer-based "bexting" (beat-based texting). The music-directed movement task (developed by the PI) requires participants to make simple movements (usually, nodding) in time with music presented over headphones, and participants are (unknowingly) randomly assigned to hear the music at either the same tempo or at different tempos, thereby eliciting synchronous or asynchronous movement. The use of music and the greater agency afforded to participants by this paradigm compared to other synchrony paradigms (i.e., in choosing the tempo to guide their movement) makes the task very engaging, thus providing the potential for stronger effects. In the bexting paradigm (developed by the Co-I), participants press a keyboard key at a designated frequency, indicated by a visual cue that appears on the computer monitor, to communicate with another ostensible participant (simulated by the computer program).The utility of this paradigm is that it allows precise experimental control of synchrony, avoids confounding synchrony with successful task performance, and is suitable for fMRI investigations. In addition, because it does not require face-to-face interaction, it enables the orthogonally manipulation of a host of factors (e.g., the partner's social category membership, whether the partner is presented as another person or a computer, whether the participants is assigned the role of leader or follower).
The proposed programme will capitalise on this balance of impact and control, and make use of social, cognitive, and perceptual tasks. The programme will comprises nine experiments: Experiments 1-3 will test the classical conditioning component of the model -- namely, whether previously meaningless stimuli now associated with synchrony come to have a positive association. Experiments 4-5 will test the perceptual fluency component of our model -- namely, whether synchrony leads to more fluent and more enjoyable processing. Experiments 6-9 will test the self-other overlap component of the model -- namely, whether synchrony leads to integrated representations of self and other. Experiment 9 is also designed to test the prediction that synchrony can produce boomerang effects. According to our model, the likelihood that synchrony will lead to self-other overlap and its outcomes depends on whether the other facilitates versus hinders goal attainment, and so this final experiment will introduce cooperation versus competition as interaction motives.

The findings of the proposed research will be of general interest to anyone in the wider public with interest in group/pair activity (via exercise, sport, dance, etc.) to the extent that it will provide insight into mechanisms and contexts that promote positive versus negative consequences of behavioural synchrony. More specific forms of impact can also be envisioned, in terms of both encouraging desirable forms of activity and improving synchronised performance.
Assuming synchrony per se is rewarding, interventions that target synchrony-facilitating mechanisms should lead associated activities to be experienced as more rewarding than they might otherwise be. Interpersonal synchrony and its underlying mechanisms could be exploited to encourage exercise motivation and adherence. It is often said that people who exercise with 'buddies' are more likely to stick with their exercise regimens; the findings of the proposed research will be amenable to the development of interventions (e.g., based on type of exercise) that heighten or maintain the 'buddy' effect. As a second example, in ongoing pilot work, the PI is exploring whether inducing synchrony between individuals influences not only their perceptions of one another, but also the perceptions of and sense of connection with physical spaces. 'Sense of place' has been linked to improved resilience and greater civic involvement; should the ongoing pilot work provide proof of concept for the link between synchrony and sense of place, the findings of the proposed research could be exploited to heighten the synchrony--sense of place--resilience link. Finally, interest in the findings of the proposed research might even extend to the public sector -- for example, in military training, where synchronised group activity (e.g., marching) is already a feature of training. The proposed research, with its analysis of synchrony's underlying mechanisms, will provide fresh and useful insight into how to foster commitment and cohesion among military personnel.
Assuming there is a bi-directional relationship between synchrony and its underlying mechanisms, interventions that target synchrony-facilitating mechanisms will also improve synchronisation ability. Most obviously, insight into the mechanisms that underlie synchronisation will have implications for group performance in expressive arts (e.g., dance, music performance) or in sports that require pair/group synchronisation (e.g., rowing). Activities designed to induce a shared perspective or a focus on motor resonance, for example, should facilitate individuals' abilities to anticipate and synchronise better with the movements of others. To the extent that such interventions improve synchronisation ability, they would also evoke other known outcomes of synchrony (e.g., rapport, perceived similarity) that would feed forward into future commitment and motivation.
The findings of the proposed research will provide the crucial groundwork to provide these applied benefits, enabling us to exploit non-academic dissemination opportunities (e.g., press releases to local, national, international press, participation in science festivals and other public engagement activities) and to initiate contact with individuals and organisations with links to expressive arts, sport, public health, and other areas of the public sector where synchrony is featured. We will engage representatives of the identified beneficiary groups in further collaboration directed toward adapting the identified constructs (i.e., classical conditioning, perceptual fluency, self-other overlap) to the relevant populations and settings (e.g., exercise, sport, dance, military training). Ultimately, the proposed research has considerable potential to feed into interventions that contribute to enhancing quality of life, health, and creative output.