Interpersonal heart rate synchrony predicts effective information processing in a naturalistic group decision-making...

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Social Neuroscience
• Group Dynamics

Background:

• Groups can outperform individuals but risk groupthink, hindering critical evaluation.
• Shared goals and perspectives correlate with similar brain activity, enhanced by consensus.
• The role of shared arousal alone in predicting collective decision-making is unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if interpersonal heart rate synchrony predicts collective decision-making outcomes.
• To determine if shared arousal, indexed by heart rate synchrony, is a key factor in group success.

Main Methods:

• Measured interpersonal heart rate synchrony in 44 groups (n=204) during a collective decision-making task.
• Employed multidimensional recurrence quantification analysis (MdRQA) and machine learning.
• Task required critical evaluation to override default options and reach the correct decision.

Main Results:

• Heart rate synchrony predicted the probability of groups reaching the correct consensus decision with >70% accuracy.
• Synchrony's predictive power surpassed that of discussion duration, subjective team function, or baseline heart rates.
• This suggests heart rate synchrony is a significant indicator of group performance.

Conclusions:

• Interpersonal heart rate synchrony serves as a biomarker for interpersonal engagement in groups.
• Synchrony facilitates adaptive learning and effective information sharing during collective decision-making.
• Shared arousal, as indicated by heart rate synchrony, is crucial for successful group problem-solving.