Nonverbal Synchrony and Complementarity in Unacquainted Same-Sex Dyads: A Comparison in a Competitive Context

Abstract

Research on interpersonal synchronization deals with the coordination of behavior, cognition and affect within interacting individuals. The phenomenon of synchronization has been explored in many settings and numerous definitions have emerged. The purpose of this study was to compare nonverbal synchrony (based on overall body movement) with the concept of complementarity (based on interpersonal theory) in a competitive context. We examined 40 previously unacquainted same-sex dyads (21 female, 19 male; mean age = 22.81). Dyads underwent a 15-min videotaped competitive role-play. Nonverbal synchrony was quantified by a frame-differencing method, and complementarity by a joystick tracking method. Results revealed that dyads behaved in a synchronous and complementary manner. We found that nonverbal synchrony was positively correlated with affiliation complementarity, but not dominance complementarity. The present study compared nonverbal synchrony with complementarity. The link between the two concepts was small, as indicated by rather weak correlations between nonverbal synchrony and affiliation complementarity. Our results reinforce the view that competitive behavior depends on complex dyadic interactions, including nonverbal and verbal behavior.

Appendix: Methodological Description and Dyad-Level Correlations of an Adapted Version of the Cold Pressor Test

To assess additional dyadic competitive behavior, an adapted version of the Cold Pressor Test (CPT; Hines and Brown 1936) including social evaluation (Schwabe et al. 2008) and implicit competition was conducted. In contrast to other previously applied versions of the CPT task (e.g., Ferreira-Valente et al. 2011; Roberts et al. 2015), our version required both participants to simultaneously immerse their right hand in ice water (temperature was 4 °C) while being seated in chairs opposite to and facing each other. In this way, we intended to increase the task’s competitive character. They were told to keep their hand up to and including the wrist in the ice water for as long as possible. To increase the competitive nature of the test, both dyad members put their hands into the same container and the examiners stayed in the room observing and timing them. This procedure is comparable to studies applying social evaluative cold pressor tests, which are conducted in groups (Minkley et al. 2014) or with the presence of examiners (Schwabe et al. 2008). The examiners announced the immersion time and stopped the task after 3 min, but participants were told that it was their own decision to remove their hand before. Immediately after drying their hand, participants completed a one-item visual analogue scale (0 least to 10 most painful) to rate how painful this adapted version of the CPT was (Ferreira-Valente et al. 2011).

Since all dyads were same sex pairs and assignment to be either dyad member 1 or 2 was random, dyads were treated as exchangeable or indistinguishable (Kenny and Cook 1999). For this case, Griffin and Gonzalez (1995) provide a method for calculating dyad-level correlations based upon the intraclass correlation including a sample size correction. Accordingly, dyad-level correlations were performed for the CPT, nonverbal synchrony and complementarity measures.

On average, with regard to pain tolerance (PT), participants kept their hand in the water for 127.54 s (SD = 65.81; range 10–180). An average pain rating (PR) of 5.85 (SD = 2.19; range .73–9.17) was reported. The correlations of interest are presented in Table 2.

Table 2 Dyad-level correlations

As can be concluded from the intraclass correlations, dyad members were similar on the measures PT (r = .62, p < .001) and PR (r = .42, p < .001). Moreover, the dyad-level correlation between PT and PR was significantly negative (r = − .62, p < .01). This indicates that dyads in which both members showed a high PT are also dyads in which both members showed low PR. With regard to our exploratory hypotheses, we found a positive relationship between affiliation complementarity and the PR (r_overall = .49, p < .05; r_{restricted to debate} = .52, p < .05). This indicates that dyads in which both members showed high PRs are also dyads in which both members showed a higher affiliation complementarity. These findings were supported by the PT measures (r_overall = − .39, p < .05; r_{restricted to debate} = − .44, p < .05), indicating that dyads in which both members showed low PTs are also dyads in which both members showed a higher affiliation complementarity.