Why do we synchronize our steps with a friend while we walk or clap our hands in unison? According to a study by Kyongsik Yun of the Caltech Institute of Technology, the greater the cooperative relationship between two people, the greater the tendency to spontaneously synchronize body movements . In fact, in the research, the scientists found that, after a cooperative training session, any two people tended to cross their legs in the same direction when sitting more times, walking synchronizing the pace, etc. To this is added that, using magnetic resonance imaging, they came to the conclusion that, after a period of social interaction, in addition to increasing body-body synchronization, brain-brain synchronization was increased . This information could be useful when choosing a coworker or partner, specifically developing a social compatibility test that will assess the degree of synchronization of movements two individuals achieve after a session in which they cooperate.
Now, the authors set out to study whether participating in other types of complex social interactions, including being part of a team in a team sport or singing in a group, would also increase the synchronization of movements between participants.
