Interpersonal synchrony: Interaction variables and gender differences in preschoolers with ASD

Actions and feelings in sync: exploring the relationship between synchrony and empathy in children's dyadic musical interactions

Introduction

This study investigated the relationship between interpersonal synchrony and empathy in children's music-making. Drawing from a theoretical framework that suggests a bidirectional relationship between synchrony and empathy, the study examined three key aspects of this relationship: (1) the role of children's trait empathy in achieving interpersonal synchrony; (2) synchrony's effects on empathy following brief musical interactions; and (3) the role of experimentally induced empathy in moderating the social bonding effects of synchrony.

Methods

Seventy-two pairs of primary school children participated in two experiments. The first involved free tapping, where participants were instructed to synchronize with one another. In the second experiment, synchrony was manipulated, using an apparatus that either facilitated or disrupted synchrony within pairs. Prior to this task, half of the pairs received a false message about their partner, intended to induce empathy. Trait empathy and social bonding were assessed via self-reported questionnaires.

Results

Findings revealed that cognitive and affective trait empathy related to children's ability to synchronize with one another, particularly when participants' temporal performance was unstable (Aspect 1). In addition, brief synchronous musical interactions were found to promote empathy within pairs (Aspect 2). Our method to experimentally induce empathy was not sufficient to influence the social bonding effects of synchrony (Aspect 3). However, trait empathy, pairs' gender composition and familiarity between children emerged as factors affecting the attainment of synchrony and the bonding experience of music-making.

Discussion

This is the first empirical study investigating multiple aspects of the interplay between synchronizing and empathizing in children, paving the way for future exploration of the mechanisms allowing for a bidirectional relationship. The study outcomes can inform musical interventions leveraging this relationship to nurture children's simultaneous musical and social development.

Smiling synchronization predicts interaction enjoyment in peer dyads of autistic and neurotypical youth

LAY ABSTRACT

For autistic and neurotypical youth, having positive social interactions with other youth is an important part of well-being. Other researchers have found that one factor that can make people feel like social interactions have gone well is synchronization. Synchronization happens when peoples' body movements and facial expressions align while they're interacting. We focus on smiling synchronization here because other studies have found that when neurotypical individuals synchronize their smiles more in a social interaction, they say they enjoy that social interaction more. However, no studies have directly tested whether smiling synchrony influences social interaction enjoyment in autistic and neurotypical youth. We measured smiling synchrony in pairs of interacting autistic and neurotypical youth who were meeting each other for the first time. Some pairs were autistic youth interacting with other autistic youth (autistic with autistic participant pairs), some pairs were autistic youth interacting with neurotypical youth (autistic with neurotypical participant pairs), and other pairs were neurotypical youth interacting with neurotypical youth (neurotypical with neurotypical participant pairs). We found that autistic with neurotypical participant pairs had lower smiling synchrony than neurotypical with neurotypical participant pairs. Youth who were in dyads that had more smiling synchrony said they enjoyed interacting with their partner more and that they wanted to interact with their partner again. Our research shows that smiling synchrony is one part of interactions between autistic and neurotypical youth that influences how well youth say the interaction went. Identifying natural opportunities for autistic and neurotypical youth to share positive feelings could be one way to promote positive social interactions between autistic and neurotypical youth.