Joint actions act like "social glue"

The background of the work by sports scientists and cognitive biologists at the University of Vienna is the fact that joint actions create a connection between people, which is crucial for the functioning of communities. Previous work has already shown that synchronous activities strengthen the feeling of togetherness and connectedness.

Shared Experiences Promote Unconscious Coordination with Other People

The team wondered whether, conversely, shared experiences could promote unconscious coordination with other people. To test this, the researchers examined how joint puzzling affects later movement synchronization during trampoline jumping. For this purpose, 68 participants were divided into same-gender pairs and randomly assigned to one of two groups. In one group, the pairs worked together on a puzzle, while in the other group, participants puzzled alone.

Subsequently, the pairs jumped on two trampolines, where their movements were recorded using acceleration sensors. Additionally, the participants were asked about their mood and their sympathy towards their partner before and after the experiment.

Sympathy Influenced Synchronization

"Our results show that pairs who worked together on a puzzle achieved significantly higher synchronization during trampoline jumping than pairs who solved the puzzle individually," explained lead author Clara Scheer from the Department of Sports Psychology at the University of Vienna in a press release. The research team considers it remarkable that the initial sympathy between participants also had a strong positive influence on later synchronization. For those who worked together on the puzzle, their mood also improved.

For Scheer, the results emphasize "that social connectedness and cooperation are closely intertwined. When people act together, it not only strengthens their togetherness but also their natural sense for each other - an essential foundation for successful collaboration." The study thus also provides an important contribution to everyday areas such as education, therapy, team building, and the performance of a sports team, for example.

(APA/Red.)

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