Dartmouth Events

Synchrony and cooperation in social interactions

Shared arousal is at the heart of various collective activities such as ritual, sports fanship, music and dancing. These activities are known to foster social bonding and cooperation, but the mechanisms underlying these effects are not fully known. While a variety of theoretical perspectives have stressed the role of physiological and emotional alignment that purportedly occurs among those participating in these activities, these effects are hard to quantify and measure, particularly in real-life contexts. Through a series of laboratory and field studies ranging from ritual fire-walkers to basketball fans and college students, I will present evidence for the validity of these claims as well as the mediating mechanisms involved.