Identifying Signatures of Perceived Interpersonal Synchrony

Area of Science:

• Social Psychology
• Behavioral Neuroscience
• Human Movement Science

Background:

• Interpersonal synchrony is a key bonding mechanism in social interactions.
• The term 'synchrony' encompasses various coordination aspects, leading to diverse quantification algorithms.
• The relationship between different synchrony measures and perceived coordination remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate how well different algorithms quantify interpersonal synchrony.
• To assess the association between synchrony measures and observer judgments of dyadic synchrony and leader-followership.

Main Methods:

• 115 observers rated computer animations of dyads performing a repetitive motor task.
• Animations were derived from full-body motion capture data of synchronized movement.
• Multiple algorithms were used to quantify interpersonal synchrony from the motion data.

Main Results:

• Most synchrony measures significantly correlated with perceived synchrony.
• Synchrony measures also correlated with perceived leader-follower balance within dyads.
• Phase synchrony and Pearson correlations showed the strongest association with observer ratings.

Conclusions:

• Specific synchrony measures align well with human perception of dyadic coordination.
• Findings may apply to intentional, structured synchrony, but further research is needed for spontaneous interactions.