Synchronized movements are often key elements in activities where social bonding and emotional connection are a shared goal, such as religious gatherings, sporting events, parties, and weddings. Previous studies have shown that synchronous movements enhance prosocial attitudes and affiliative behaviors. Similarly, observers attribute more social closeness to people moving synchronously together than people moving asynchronously. The mechanisms by which synchrony modulates these attributions are not well understood. In the present study, we ask whether viewing synchronous activities increases physiological arousal as measured by skin conductance, and whether group size impacts this effect. Undergraduates viewed a series of short videos depicting people moving either (1) in or out of synchrony with each other and (2) in a large or small group. Participants’ skin conductance was measured. Change in skin conductance levels and response counts were attenuated while watching synchronous movement, but only in the large-group condition. Post-hoc analyses suggest that viewer enjoyment/interest in the large-group synchronous videos mediated this association for phasic skin conductance responses, but no evidence of mediation was found for tonic skin conductance levels. Results extend previous research on affiliative effects of first-person interpersonal synchrony and demonstrate that watching others moving synchronously has an attenuating effect on observers’ physiological state.

中文翻译：

---

同步的感觉：因观察到的社会同步而引起的生理唤醒减少

在社交聚会和情感联系是共同目标的活动中，同步运动通常是关键要素，例如宗教聚会，体育赛事，聚会和婚礼。先前的研究表明，同步运动会增强亲社会态度和从属行为。同样，与异步移动的人相比，观察者将更多的社会亲密感归因于同步移动的人。同步调制这些属性的机制还没有被很好地理解。在本研究中，我们要求查看同步活动是否通过皮肤电导来衡量是否会增加生理唤醒，以及组的大小是否会影响这种效果。大学生观看了一系列简短的视频，这些视频描绘了人们彼此之间（1）同步或不同步，以及（2）大大小小的小组。测量参与者的皮肤电导率。观察同步运动时，皮肤电导水平和反应计数的变化减弱，但仅在大组情况下。事后分析表明，观看者对大型同步视频的欣赏/兴趣介导了这种关联，用于阶段性皮肤电导反应，但没有发现调解性皮肤电导水平有中介作用的证据。结果扩展了先前关于第一人称人际交往的从属效应的研究，并表明观察他人同步运动对观察者的生理状态具有衰减作用。事后分析表明，观看者对大型同步视频的欣赏/兴趣介导了这种关联，用于阶段性皮肤电导反应，但没有发现调解性皮肤电导水平有中介作用的证据。结果扩展了先前关于第一人称人际交往的从属效应的研究，并表明观察他人同步运动对观察者的生理状态具有衰减作用。事后分析表明，观看者对大型同步视频的欣赏/兴趣介导了这种关联，用于阶段性皮肤电导反应，但没有发现调解性皮肤电导水平有中介作用的证据。结果扩展了先前关于第一人称人际交往的从属效应的研究，并表明观察他人同步运动对观察者的生理状态具有衰减作用。