The Synchrony-Prosociality Link Cannot Be Explained Away as Expectancy Effect
Response to Atwood et al. ()
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22157936 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Bahar Tunçgenç (0000-0002-1135-1004, University of Oxford), Joshua Silberstein Bamford (0000-0002-8204-7915, University of Oxford), Clare Fawcett (0000-0002-0898-9920, Stockholm University), E Cohen (0000-0002-5465-3440, University of Oxford) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 7 |
| Pages | 711-714 |
| Publication date | 2023-09-20 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Open MIND (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2470-2986 • E-ISSN: 2470-2986 |
| Publisher | MIT Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1162/opmi_a_00103 |
| PMID | 37840755 |
| OpenAlex | W4387196973 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 18 |
Moving in time to others, as is often observed in dance, music, sports and much of children’s play cross-culturally, is thought to make people feel and act more prosocially towards each other. In a recent paper, Atwood et al. (2022) argued that the inferential validity of this link found between synchronous behaviour and prosociality might be mainly due to “expectancy effects generated by a combination of (1) experimenter expectancy, leading to experimenter bias; and (2) participant expectancy (i.e., placebo effects)”. Here, we counter these arguments with (1) examples of studies devoid of experimenter expectancy effects that nevertheless demonstrate a positive link between synchrony and prosociality, and (2) insights from the developmental literature that address participant expectancy by showing how expectations formed through lived experiences of synchronous interactions do not necessarily threaten inferential validity. In conclusion, there is already sufficient good-quality evidence showing the positive effects of synchronous behaviours on prosociality beyond what can be explained by experimenter or participant expectation effects
Cognitive psychology · Developmental psychology · Expectancy theory · Action Observation and Synchronization · Child and Animal Learning Development · Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior · Psychology · Social Psychology
Parent–Infant Synchrony
The Mirror-Neuron System
Understanding and sharing intentions
Expectancy Effects Threaten the Inferential Validity of Synchrony-Prosociality Research
Twelve-Month ‘‘Social Revolution'' Emerges from Mother-Infant Sensorimotor Coordination
Social Effects of Movement Synchrony
Origins of infant-mother attachment
| Highly cited | No |
|---|