Synchrony and Sympathy: Social Entrainment With Music Compared to a Metronome

• Published in: Psychomusicology Vol. 27; no. 3; pp. 158 - 166
• Main Authors: Stupacher, Jan, Wood, Guilherme, Witte, Matthias
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington Educational Publishing Foundation 01.09.2017; American Psychological Association
• Subjects: Behavior; Cooperation; Female; Finger Tapping; Human; Interpersonal Interaction; Listening; Male; Movement; Music; Neurophysiology; Pain; Perceptual Motor Processes; Prosocial Behavior; Psychology; Rhythm; Synchrony; Time & motion studies; sensorimotor synchronization; joint action; pro-social behavior; affiliation; interpersonal coordination
• ISBN: 9781433891052; 1433891050
• ISSN: 0275-3987; 2162-1535
• DOI: 10.1037/pmu0000181

Interpersonal synchronization of movements, such as walking at the same pace or dancing to the same beat, can strengthen pro-social behavior and affiliation. People all over the world come together every now and then to become entrained with a shared musical rhythm. Thus, the social and emotional power of music might further tighten interpersonal bonds. In the current study, we investigated whether social entrainment affects affiliation and helpfulness more strongly when tapping to music compared with a metronome. The between-subjects design consisted of four groups: tapping to the beat of music or to an isochronous metronome with an experimenter who tapped synchronously or asynchronously. The results of an implicit test showed that when listening to music, participants were more helpful toward a person who tapped synchronously compared with asynchronously. No such effect was found when listening and tapping to a metronome. The results of explicit ratings of the experimenter's likability, however, did not confirm this effect. Music is a product of social interactions and might even be the result of evolutionary adaptation. Thus, we conclude that interpersonal synchrony or asynchrony during listening to music can fulfill or violate hard-wired social expectations. Compared with the experience of just moving in synchrony with a simple isochronous timekeeper, such as a metronome, social entrainment with music might increase social bonding by adding an extra layer of affective and neurophysiological mechanisms. The current experiment additionally shows that implicit or indirect measures can help elucidate how music, entrainment, affiliation, and pro-social behavior are connected.