About this Research Topic
Interpersonal synchrony, the temporal coordination between individuals during social interactions, is a cornerstone of human connection. This phenomenon has been shown to play a critical role in fostering social bonds, enhancing prosocial behaviors, and facilitating mutual understanding. More synchrony is not always beneficial, however, as synchrony could also be related to conflict escalation.
Synchrony can manifest in various forms, including the attunement of psychophysiology, movement, emotions, and cognitive processes, thus reflecting the dynamic and multifaceted nature of human interactions. Despite its importance, the precise mechanisms by which synchrony occurs, as well as its developmental trajectory and the contextual factors that influence it, remain areas of active investigation. Understanding these elements is crucial for advancing our knowledge of how human connections are formed and sustained across different stages of life.
This Research Topic aims to bring together research that explores embodied synchrony, with a focus on understanding how synchrony occurs across various interactional modalities. We are interested in all the ways synchrony can manifest during social interactions, whether through verbal or nonverbal channels. For example, synchrony may arise in physiological processes, such as autonomic nervous system responses like heart rate or electrodermal activity. It can also be observed in body movements, as individuals unconsciously coordinate their gestures and postures; or in facial expressions, by which emotions are mirrored between people. Additionally, synchrony may be evident in prosody and tone of voice, when the rhythm, loudness, or pitch of speech between individuals harmonize.
By examining these and other modalities, this Research Topic seeks to provide a comprehensive understanding of how synchrony is formed, maintained, and influenced across different social contexts and throughout the lifespan. Authors may include contributions that explore these dimensions, aiming to advance our knowledge of the role of synchrony in human interactions and its potential applications in enhancing social connection and well-being.
We encourage all kinds of submissions that explore the broad and dynamic phenomenon of embodied attunement between individuals, conceptualized through lenses such as synchrony, responsiveness, entrainment, mirroring, concordance, interpersonal coordination, mimicry, co-modulation, co-regulation, attunement, adaptation, alignment, linkage, resonance, and imitation.
This Research Topic welcomes contributions that address themes including, but not limited to, the following:
• the role of synchrony in dyads, groups, and multi-person systems
• intrapersonal synchrony, coherence between different modalities of interaction, and personal experiences of synchrony
• the role of interpersonal synchrony in the formation and quality of early-life attachments and its impact on later developmental outcomes
• mechanisms underlying synchrony and attunement in romantic, familial, and social relationships across the lifespan
• the influence of personality, attachment style, and emotion regulation skills on interpersonal synchrony
• technological or methodological advancements in creating, manipulating, and measuring synchrony and attunement, including wearable devices and computational modeling
• interdisciplinary approaches to studying synchrony and attunement
• qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method work exploring the inter- or intrapersonal effects of synchrony
• the application of synchrony research in clinical settings, educational practices, and enhancing well-being
• in- and out-of-synchrony processes and dynamics; e.g., rupture and repair
• problems in connecting to other people and adverse effects or non-beneficial aspects of synchrony.
This collection encourages original research articles, reviews, methodological innovations, brief reports, and theoretical papers that expand the current understanding of interpersonal synchrony and its implications across various domains. The Topic will explore interpersonal synchrony across various disciplines, with a focus on psychological aspects, and accepts submissions via several journals and journal sections. All submissions will be evaluated based on their relevance to the particular journal and section they will be submitted through. Authors should ensure their work aligns with the scope of the section to be considered for inclusion. Information about section scope can be obtained by clicking the 'Participating Journals' section of this page.
Synchrony can manifest in various forms, including the attunement of psychophysiology, movement, emotions, and cognitive processes, thus reflecting the dynamic and multifaceted nature of human interactions. Despite its importance, the precise mechanisms by which synchrony occurs, as well as its developmental trajectory and the contextual factors that influence it, remain areas of active investigation. Understanding these elements is crucial for advancing our knowledge of how human connections are formed and sustained across different stages of life.
This Research Topic aims to bring together research that explores embodied synchrony, with a focus on understanding how synchrony occurs across various interactional modalities. We are interested in all the ways synchrony can manifest during social interactions, whether through verbal or nonverbal channels. For example, synchrony may arise in physiological processes, such as autonomic nervous system responses like heart rate or electrodermal activity. It can also be observed in body movements, as individuals unconsciously coordinate their gestures and postures; or in facial expressions, by which emotions are mirrored between people. Additionally, synchrony may be evident in prosody and tone of voice, when the rhythm, loudness, or pitch of speech between individuals harmonize.
By examining these and other modalities, this Research Topic seeks to provide a comprehensive understanding of how synchrony is formed, maintained, and influenced across different social contexts and throughout the lifespan. Authors may include contributions that explore these dimensions, aiming to advance our knowledge of the role of synchrony in human interactions and its potential applications in enhancing social connection and well-being.
We encourage all kinds of submissions that explore the broad and dynamic phenomenon of embodied attunement between individuals, conceptualized through lenses such as synchrony, responsiveness, entrainment, mirroring, concordance, interpersonal coordination, mimicry, co-modulation, co-regulation, attunement, adaptation, alignment, linkage, resonance, and imitation.
This Research Topic welcomes contributions that address themes including, but not limited to, the following:
• the role of synchrony in dyads, groups, and multi-person systems
• intrapersonal synchrony, coherence between different modalities of interaction, and personal experiences of synchrony
• the role of interpersonal synchrony in the formation and quality of early-life attachments and its impact on later developmental outcomes
• mechanisms underlying synchrony and attunement in romantic, familial, and social relationships across the lifespan
• the influence of personality, attachment style, and emotion regulation skills on interpersonal synchrony
• technological or methodological advancements in creating, manipulating, and measuring synchrony and attunement, including wearable devices and computational modeling
• interdisciplinary approaches to studying synchrony and attunement
• qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method work exploring the inter- or intrapersonal effects of synchrony
• the application of synchrony research in clinical settings, educational practices, and enhancing well-being
• in- and out-of-synchrony processes and dynamics; e.g., rupture and repair
• problems in connecting to other people and adverse effects or non-beneficial aspects of synchrony.
This collection encourages original research articles, reviews, methodological innovations, brief reports, and theoretical papers that expand the current understanding of interpersonal synchrony and its implications across various domains. The Topic will explore interpersonal synchrony across various disciplines, with a focus on psychological aspects, and accepts submissions via several journals and journal sections. All submissions will be evaluated based on their relevance to the particular journal and section they will be submitted through. Authors should ensure their work aligns with the scope of the section to be considered for inclusion. Information about section scope can be obtained by clicking the 'Participating Journals' section of this page.
Keywords: Interpersonal Synchrony, Responsiveness, Mirroring, Concordance, Interpersonal coordination, Mimicry, Co-modulation, Co-regulation, Attunement, Linkage, Resonance
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
