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Do birds of a feather move together? Group membership and behavioral synchrony

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Abstract

The temporal coordination of interpersonal behavior is a foundation for effective joint action with synchronized movement moderating core components of person perception and social exchange. Questions remain, however, regarding the precise conditions under which interpersonal synchrony emerges. In particular, with whom do people reliably synchronize their movements? The current investigation explored the effects of arbitrary group membership (i.e., minimal groups) on the emergence of interpersonal coordination. Participants performed a repetitive rhythmic action together with a member of the same or a different minimal group. Of interest was the extent to which participants spontaneously synchronized their movements with those of the target. Results revealed that stable coordination (i.e., in-phase synchrony) was most pronounced when participants interacted with a member of a different minimal group. These findings are discussed with respect to the functional role of interpersonal synchrony and the potential avenues by which the dynamics of rhythmic coordination may be influenced by group status.

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Notes

  1. In-phase synchrony occurs when the movements of each individual are simultaneously at equivalent points of the movement cycle, while anti-phase synchrony occurs when such movements are simultaneously at opposite points of the movement cycle. Although the actions of interacting individuals will routinely move through the range of intermediate relative phase relationships (i.e., between 0° and 180°) they tend to settle at one of the two stable (i.e., attractor) states over time (see Schmidt and Richardson 2008).

  2. Pilot testing revealed that participants were best able to maintain this frequency without the aid of a metronome.

  3. Analyses were conducted comparing the relative phase relationship between single arms (participant left with confederate right and vice versa). Identical patterns of results were found to those reported below. Furthermore, comparisons of intrapersonal coordination (i.e., participant’s left and right arms) revealed no significant differences from 0° (i.e., in-phase) as a function of condition, group or stage, nor any differences between these factors. Hence, for simplicity, only the results from analysis of averaged data are presented.

  4. The same analyses were conducted using cross-spectral coherence as an alternative index of coordination. An identical pattern of results was obtained whereby participants in the minimal group condition who were in a different group to the confederate showed significantly more coherence (i.e., coordination) than those in the same group or participants in the control condition.

  5. The same results were found for the control condition participants: expected interaction quality [M same  = 5.4, M different  = 5.9, t(14) = −0.91, p = .19]; self-reported liking for the confederate [Control: M same  = 5.4, M different  = 5.6, t(14) = −0.25, p = .40]. Equivalent 2(condition: minimal group or control) x 2(group: same or different) ANOVAs also revealed no significant effects.

  6. In-phase coordination is relatively more stable than anti-phase coordination (Haken et al. 1985) and reported more frequently for interpersonal settings (see Richardson et al. 2007).

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Acknowledgments

LKM was supported by a Research Councils of the UK Academic Fellowship, MJR was supported by the National Science Foundation (Grant #: BCS-0750190), and CNM was supported by a Royal Society-Wolfson Fellowship. Thanks to Natasha Flannigan and Brittany Christian for their assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, King’s College, Aberdeen, AB24 3FX, Scotland, UK

    Lynden K. Miles, Joanne Lumsden & C. Neil Macrae

  2. University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Michael J. Richardson

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  1. Lynden K. Miles
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  2. Joanne Lumsden
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  3. Michael J. Richardson
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  4. C. Neil Macrae
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Correspondence to Lynden K. Miles.

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Miles, L.K., Lumsden, J., Richardson, M.J. et al. Do birds of a feather move together? Group membership and behavioral synchrony. Exp Brain Res 211, 495–503 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-011-2641-z

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