Interpersonal movement synchrony facilitates pro-social behavior in children's peer-play

The emergence of pro-social behaviors and social interacton skills is a major focus of research on children’s development. Here, we consider one important feature of human social interactons, interpersonal movement synchrony, and explore its efects on pro-sociality among young children. Coordinated...

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Main Authors: Tuncgenc, B, Cohen, E
Format: Journal article
Published: John Wiley & Sons Ltd 2016
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author Tuncgenc, B
Cohen, E
author_facet Tuncgenc, B
Cohen, E
author_sort Tuncgenc, B
collection OXFORD
description The emergence of pro-social behaviors and social interacton skills is a major focus of research on children’s development. Here, we consider one important feature of human social interactons, interpersonal movement synchrony, and explore its efects on pro-sociality among young children. Coordinated movements are a crucial part of mother–infant interactons, with important social efects extending well into childhood. Musical interactons are also known to facilitate bonding between infants and caretakers and pro-sociality among peers. We specifcally examine the pro-social effects of interpersonal movement synchrony in a naturalistc peer-play context among 4- to 6-year-old children. We assessed the amount of helping behavior between pairs of children following an actvity that they performed synchronously or nonsynchronously. Children who engaged in synchronous play, as compared with nonsynchronous play, showed signifcantly more subsequent spontaneous helping behavior. Further, more mutual smiling and eye contact were observed in the synchronous conditon and amounts of mutual smiling and eye contact during the movement task correlated with amount of helping behavior observed. Neither measure mediated the conditon-wise efects on helping, however. These results are discussed in terms of their contributon to existng literature and their broader implicatons for the development of pro-sociality and coordinated movements in early childhood.
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spelling oxford-uuid:2dd49b92-78b4-4110-8582-771092452ede2022-03-26T12:45:29ZInterpersonal movement synchrony facilitates pro-social behavior in children's peer-playJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:2dd49b92-78b4-4110-8582-771092452edeSymplectic Elements at OxfordJohn Wiley & Sons Ltd2016Tuncgenc, BCohen, EThe emergence of pro-social behaviors and social interacton skills is a major focus of research on children’s development. Here, we consider one important feature of human social interactons, interpersonal movement synchrony, and explore its efects on pro-sociality among young children. Coordinated movements are a crucial part of mother–infant interactons, with important social efects extending well into childhood. Musical interactons are also known to facilitate bonding between infants and caretakers and pro-sociality among peers. We specifcally examine the pro-social effects of interpersonal movement synchrony in a naturalistc peer-play context among 4- to 6-year-old children. We assessed the amount of helping behavior between pairs of children following an actvity that they performed synchronously or nonsynchronously. Children who engaged in synchronous play, as compared with nonsynchronous play, showed signifcantly more subsequent spontaneous helping behavior. Further, more mutual smiling and eye contact were observed in the synchronous conditon and amounts of mutual smiling and eye contact during the movement task correlated with amount of helping behavior observed. Neither measure mediated the conditon-wise efects on helping, however. These results are discussed in terms of their contributon to existng literature and their broader implicatons for the development of pro-sociality and coordinated movements in early childhood.
spellingShingle Tuncgenc, B
Cohen, E
Interpersonal movement synchrony facilitates pro-social behavior in children's peer-play
title Interpersonal movement synchrony facilitates pro-social behavior in children's peer-play
title_full Interpersonal movement synchrony facilitates pro-social behavior in children's peer-play
title_fullStr Interpersonal movement synchrony facilitates pro-social behavior in children's peer-play
title_full_unstemmed Interpersonal movement synchrony facilitates pro-social behavior in children's peer-play
title_short Interpersonal movement synchrony facilitates pro-social behavior in children's peer-play
title_sort interpersonal movement synchrony facilitates pro social behavior in children s peer play
work_keys_str_mv AT tuncgencb interpersonalmovementsynchronyfacilitatesprosocialbehaviorinchildrenspeerplay
AT cohene interpersonalmovementsynchronyfacilitatesprosocialbehaviorinchildrenspeerplay