Rhythm seems to be a kind of universal language that we all respond to, and in groups, a growing body of scientific research has demonstrated links between feelings of belonging and synchronization. The phenomenon of spontaneous synchronization to a musical beat is easily observed, but not so well understood.
A recent study published in the Social Psychology looks into the way we experience feelings of togetherness and spontaneously synchronize while playing music. Interestingly, it also touches on why.
The Study
“I am interested in how being ‘in sync’ with other people through the experience of music-making and other forms of artistic expression supports a general feeling of connectedness to others, which in turn may support people’s well-being,” said study author Warren Mansell, a professor of mental health at Curtin University and director of the LEx Mental Health Research Group, as quoted in Psychology.
“There is good evidence that synchrony is involved in a range of everyday activities, yet the research in this area had either set a tempo for people to play to, or allowed people to communicate when performing which means they could have told each other to play in sync rather than the synchrony emerging purely through the interface of music.”
The authors of the study point out that most of the earlier research into the phenomenon used music with a fixed tempo, eliminating some of the spontaneous element. They designed their own test environment to specifically look into the theory that the systems that manage rhythm are also involved in what is called interpersonal synchronization. That extends to coordination, and a shared feeling of positivity.
The researchers used a small group of students and MIDI percussion instruments in their study. The music was performed on an impromptu basis, looking for truly spontaneous results. A group of 49 participants were put into groups of two or three, and simply asked to play percussion sounds on the MIDI keyboard provided together for a period of 10 minutes. Each participant rated their sense of connectedness every minute.
The people who synchronized with their group for the longest periods experienced that connected feeling more strongly too, and that feeling increased more over the 10 minute period, suggesting it had a cumulative effect on them. That occurred for about a third of the participants (17 out of 49).
What does it mean?
It will be no secret to anyone who’s attended a live concert that the experience can bring people together, and that it can happen on what feels like a visceral level. The implications point to questions and theories.
- Has music evolved as a way to create and build social bonds? Was that its main driving force in early humans?
- Traditional and modern societies tend to mark most public occasions with music, which helps to establish trust within groups.
- Spontaneous synchronization to the rhythm of music has an effect on specific areas of the brain, as well as on feelings of positive connectedness.
- Several studies show that the feeling of affiliation with the group persists after the musical experience, and resulted in increased cooperation and cohesion within working groups.
- That effect has been observed in children as young as 14-months of age.
Caveat…
Even if 32 of the 49 participants didn’t display strong synchronization or cohesiveness, none of them had a negative experience of note.
As the paper’s authors point out, the results imply the potential for an element of collective control.
With great power, as it it said, comes great responsibility. The researchers cite a 2020 study that notes social synchronization can also be used in a negative ways, and lead people to participate in dangerous and harmful activities too under the right circumstances.
It only underscores the importance of music to the human experience — one that can’t be quantified in terms of mere dollars and cents.
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