Lozza, Nicla; Spoerri, Corinne; Ehlert, Ulrike; Kesselring, Marion; Hubmann, Priska; Tschacher, Wolfgang; La Marca, Roberto (2018). Nonverbal synchrony and complementarity in unacquainted same-sex dyads: A comparison in a competitive context. Journal of nonverbal behavior, 42(2), pp. 179-197. Springer 10.1007/s10919-018-0273-8
|
Text
Lozza et al-2018_NonverbalSynchrony.pdf - Published Version Available under License Publisher holds Copyright. Download (592kB) | Preview |
Research on interpersonal synchronization deals with the coordination of
behavior, cognition and affect within interacting individuals. The phenomenon of synchronization has been explored in many settings and numerous definitions have emerged.
The purpose of this study was to compare nonverbal synchrony (based on overall body
movement) with the concept of complementarity (based on interpersonal theory) in a
competitive context. We examined 40 previously unacquainted same-sex dyads (21
female, 19 male; mean age = 22.81). Dyads underwent a 15-min videotaped competitive
role-play. Nonverbal synchrony was quantified by a frame-differencing method, and
complementarity by a joystick tracking method. Results revealed that dyads behaved in a
synchronous and complementary manner. We found that nonverbal synchrony was positively correlated with affiliation complementarity, but not dominance complementarity.
The present study compared nonverbal synchrony with complementarity. The link between
the two concepts was small, as indicated by rather weak correlations between nonverbal
synchrony and affiliation complementarity. Our results reinforce the view that competitive
behavior depends on complex dyadic interactions, including nonverbal and verbal
behavior.