When the team clicks: The social cognition of joint action among professional Chinese rugby players
Humans display an unmistakable tendency to come together and move together. Amidst all of the scientific questions that we ask of ourselves, how and why we move together are two fundamental questions that have evaded detailed and rigorous consideration, until recently. The key assertion of this thes...
Humans display an unmistakable tendency to come together and move together. Amidst all of the scientific questions that we ask of ourselves, how and why we move together are two fundamental questions that have evaded detailed and rigorous consideration, until recently. The key assertion of this thesis is that a scientific explanation for the prevalence of physiologically exertive and socially coordinated movement (group exercise) in human sociality can benefit from closer attention to the mechanisms of joint action (defined herein as the dynamic coordination of behaviour between two or more co-actors). I propose novel theoretical synthesis and conduct focussed empirical research to explore and substantiate this assertion.
This thesis tests the hypothesis that the phenomenon of “team click” mediates a relationship between joint action and social bonding in group exercise contexts. Team click refers to a visceral and agentic experience of optimal performance in joint action. Although anecdotal evidence is pervasive, theory-driven investigation into the phenomenon is lacking. I develop a theoretical grounding for team click based on the proposed relationship between dynamical coordination of physical movement and social communication, as a response to cognitive uncertainty of joint action. I formulate a novel general theoretical account of team click in group exercise, which I test with ethnographic, survey, and field experimental data collected with a population of professional rugby players in China. Results support the prediction that more positive perceptions of successful team performance in joint action leads to higher levels of social bonding in group exercise, mediated by higher levels of team click. Results also suggest that positive violation of expectations surrounding team performance may play an important role as a precedent for team click in complex and uncertain joint action scenarios. From these results, I infer that team click establishes a physically embodied, and socially embedded cognitive foundation conducive to more elaborate and culturally contingent processes characteristic of social bonding. Further empirical research is warranted to more precisely isolate and operationalise causal mechanisms that generate team click and social bonding in joint action scenarios typical of group exercise.