Social bonding is fundamental to human society, and romantic interest involves an important type of bonding. Speed dating research paradigms offer both high external validity and experimental control for studying romantic interest in real-world settings. While previous studies focused on the effect of social and personality factors on romantic interest, the role of nonverbal interaction has been little studied in initial romantic interest, despite being commonly viewed as a crucial factor. The present study investigated whether romantic interest can be (1) predicted by nonverbal dyadic interactive body sway, and (2) enhanced by movement-promoting (‘groovy’) background music. Participants’ body sway trajectories were recorded during speed dating. Directional (predictive) body sway coupling, but not body sway similarity, predicted interest in a long-term relationship above and beyond rated physical attractiveness. In addition, presence of groovy background music promoted interest in meeting a dating partner again. Overall, we demonstrate that romantic interest is reflected by nonverbal body sway in dyads in a real-world dating setting. This novel approach could potentially be applied to investigate nonverbal aspects of social bonding in other dynamic interpersonal interactions such as between infants and parents and in nonverbal populations including those with communication disorders.

中文翻译：

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身体摇摆预示着浪漫对快速约会的兴趣。

社会联系是人类社会的基础，而浪漫的兴趣则是一种重要的联系方式。快速约会研究范例为研究现实世界中的浪漫兴趣提供了很高的外部有效性和实验控制力。尽管先前的研究集中于社交和个性因素对浪漫兴趣的影响，但非言语交往的作用在最初的浪漫兴趣中很少进行研究，尽管通常被认为是至关重要的因素。本研究调查了是否可以（1）通过非言语二元互动身体摇摆来预测浪漫的兴趣，以及（2）通过促进运动（“时髦”）的背景音乐来增强浪漫的兴趣。快速约会期间记录参与者的身体摇摆轨迹。定向（预测）的身体摇摆耦合，但不是身体摇摆相似性，对长期关系的预期兴趣超出了额定的身体吸引力。此外，时髦的背景音乐的出现还激发了人们再次认识约会对象的兴趣。总体而言，我们证明，在现实世界中的约会中，浪漫的兴趣是通过非言语身体在双子座中的摇摆来反映的。这种新颖的方法可以潜在地应用于研究其他动态人际互动中的社会联系的非语言方面，例如婴儿与父母之间以及包括交流障碍在内的非语言人群。我们证明，在现实世界中的约会环境中，浪漫的兴趣是由非言语身体在双子座中的摇摆所反映的。这种新颖的方法可以潜在地应用于研究其他动态人际互动中的社会联系的非语言方面，例如婴儿与父母之间以及包括交流障碍在内的非语言人群。我们证明，在现实世界中的约会环境中，浪漫的兴趣是由非言语身体在双子座中的摇摆所反映的。这种新颖的方法可以潜在地应用于研究其他动态人际互动中的社会联系的非语言方面，例如婴儿与父母之间以及包括交流障碍在内的非语言人群。