Who syncs? Social motives and interpersonal coordination

Joanne Lumsden, Lynden K. Miles, Michael J. Richardson, Carlene A. Smith, C. Neil Macrae

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

113 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Interpersonal synchrony provides an important foundation for social interaction, as periods of temporal coordination lead to enhanced sociality. Moreover, synchronous actions are governed by lawful physical principles of coordination dynamics, suggesting some degree of inevitability. However, both anecdotal and laboratory evidence indicates that not all individuals synchronize. Here we explored whether differences in social motives (i.e., social value orientation) influence the propensity to coordinate with others. The results revealed that individuals with a pro-social orientation spontaneously coordinated with a confederate to a greater extent than those with a pro-self orientation, regardless of whether such orientations were assessed as dispositional characteristics (Study 1) or were the result of a priming manipulation (Study 2). These findings have important implications for both coordination dynamics and prominent accounts of social exchange.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)746-751
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Experimental Social Psychology
Volume48
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2012
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • interpersonal synchrony
  • social value orientation
  • coordination dynamics
  • cooperation
  • social cognition

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Who syncs? Social motives and interpersonal coordination'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this