Let’s Dance Together: Synchrony, Shared Intentionality and Cooperation
Top Cited Papers
Open Access
- 7 August 2013
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Public Library of Science (PLoS) in PLOS ONE
- Vol. 8 (8), e71182
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0071182
Abstract
Previous research has shown that the matching of rhythmic behaviour between individuals (synchrony) increases cooperation. Such synchrony is most noticeable in music, dance and collective rituals. As well as the matching of behaviour, such collective performances typically involve shared intentionality: performers actively collaborate to produce joint actions. Over three experiments we examined the importance of shared intentionality in promoting cooperation from group synchrony. Experiment 1 compared a condition in which group synchrony was produced through shared intentionality to conditions in which synchrony or asynchrony were created as a by-product of hearing the same or different rhythmic beats. We found that synchrony combined with shared intentionality produced the greatest level of cooperation. To examinef the importance of synchrony when shared intentionality is present, Experiment 2 compared a condition in which participants deliberately worked together to produce synchrony with a condition in which participants deliberately worked together to produce asynchrony. We found that synchrony combined with shared intentionality produced the greatest level of cooperation. Experiment 3 manipulated both the presence of synchrony and shared intentionality and found significantly greater cooperation with synchrony and shared intentionality combined. Path analysis supported a reinforcement of cooperation model according to which perceiving synchrony when there is a shared goal to produce synchrony provides immediate feedback for successful cooperation so reinforcing the group’s cooperative tendencies. The reinforcement of cooperation model helps to explain the evolutionary conservation of traditional music and dance performances, and furthermore suggests that the collectivist values of such cultures may be an essential part of the mechanisms by which synchrony galvanises cooperative behaviours.Keywords
This publication has 61 references indexed in Scilit:
- Collective-Goal Ascription Increases Cooperation in HumansPLOS ONE, 2013
- Synchronized Drumming Enhances Activity in the Caudate and Facilitates Prosocial Commitment - If the Rhythm Comes EasilyPLOS ONE, 2011
- Spreading order: religion, cooperative niche construction, and risky coordination problemsBiology & Philosophy, 2011
- Towards a holistic model of functions of music listening across cultures: A culturally decentred qualitative approachPsychology of Music, 2011
- Rowers' high: behavioural synchrony is correlated with elevated pain thresholdsBiology Letters, 2009
- The other cooperation problem: generating benefitBiology & Philosophy, 2007
- The sensory feedback mechanisms enabling couples to walk synchronously: An initial investigationJournal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation, 2007
- Socially assistive robotics for post-stroke rehabilitationJournal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation, 2007
- The evolution of the music faculty: a comparative perspectiveNature Neuroscience, 2003
- Rhythmic organization of social interaction and observer ratings of positive affect and involvementJournal of Nonverbal Behavior, 1987