From attachment to groups: tapping into the neurobiology of our interconnectedness

Communication style drives emergent leadership attribution in virtual teams

Leader selection plays a key role in how human social groups are formed and maintained. Leadership is either assigned through formal processes within an organization, or emerges informally through interactions with other group members-particularly in novel contexts. COVID-19 has accelerated the adoption of virtual meetings and more flexible team structures. However our understanding of how assigned leadership influences subsequent leadership emergence in virtual settings is limited. Here we examine the relationship between assigned leadership within an existing organization and subsequent emergent leadership attributions as members engage in virtual interactions. To do so, we created and implemented a novel virtual group decision-making task designed to support quantification of a more comprehensive set of communication style elements, such as speech dynamics and facial expressions, as well as task behaviors. Sixteen members of a real world organization engaged four repeated rounds of a group decision making task with new team members each time. We found participants made novel attributions of emergent leadership rather than relying solely on existing assigned leadership. While assigned leadership did influence leadership attributions, communication style, including amount of speech but also variability in facial expressions, played a larger role. The behavior of these novel emergent leaders was also more consistent with expectations of leadership behavior: they spoke earlier, more often, and focused more on the correct decision than did assigned leaders. These findings suggest that, even within existing social networks, virtual contexts promote flexible group structures that depend more on communication style and task performance than assigned leadership.

Group-level physiological synchrony and individual-level anxiety predict positive affective behaviors during a group decision-making task

Joint performance can lead to the synchronization of physiological processes among group members during a shared task. Recently, it has been shown that synchronization is indicative of subjective ratings of group processes and task performance. However, different methods have been used to quantify synchronization, and little is known about the effects of the choice of method and level of analysis (individuals, dyads, or triads) on the results. In this study, participants performed a decision‐making task in groups of three while physiological signals (heart rate and electrodermal activity), positive affective behavior, and personality traits were measured. First, we investigated the effects of different levels of analysis of physiological synchrony on affective behavior. We computed synchrony measures as (a) individual contributions to group synchrony, (b) the average dyadic synchrony within a group, and (c) group‐level synchrony. Second, we assessed the association between physiological synchrony and positive affective behavior. Third, we investigated the moderating effects of trait anxiety and social phobia on behavior. We discovered that the effects of physiological synchrony on positive affective behavior were particularly strong at the group level but nonsignificant at the individual and dyadic levels. Moreover, we found that heart rate and electrodermal synchronization showed opposite effects on group members' display of affective behavior. Finally, trait anxiety moderated the relationship between physiological synchrony and affective behavior, perhaps due to social uncertainty, while social phobia did not have a moderating effect. We discuss these results regarding the role of different physiological signals and task demands during joint action.

Impact Statement

Despite the inherent multilevel structure of groups, little is known regarding how physiological coupling between group members relates to their behaviors during joint group tasks at multiple levels (individual, dyadic, and group). We showed that the relationship between physiological synchrony and smiling/laughing behaviors made by group members were particularly strong at the group level but nonsignificant at the individual and dyadic levels. By using innovative quantification methods—Multidimensional Recurrence Quantification Analysis—we highlight the importance of modeling data in a way that allows for multilevel considerations within groups.

Exploring the Dimensions of Smartphone Distraction: Development, Validation, Measurement Invariance, and Latent Mean Differences of the Smartphone Distraction Scale (SDS)

Background: Distraction is a functional emotion regulation strategy utilized to relieve emotional distress. Within the attention economy perspective, distraction is increasingly associated with digital technology use, performance impairments and interference with higher-order cognitive processes. Research on smartphone distraction and its association with problematic smartphone use is still scarce and there is no available psychometric assessment tool to assess this cognitive and emotive process parsimoniously. Method: The present study reports the development and evaluation of the psychometric properties of the Smartphone Distraction Scale (SDS) through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, construct validity, gender invariance, and latent mean differences. The study was conducted in a sample of British university students (N = 1,001; M = 21.10 years, SD = 2.77). Results: The 16-item SDS was best conceptualized in a four-factor model solution comprising attention impulsiveness, online vigilance, emotion regulation, and multitasking. Construct validity was established using relevant psychosocial and mental health measures, with SDS scores being moderately associated with deficient self-regulation and problematic social media use. Gender measurement invariance was achieved at the configural, metric, and scalar levels, and latent mean differences indicated that females had significantly higher means than males across all four SDS latent factors. Discussion: The SDS presents with several strengths, including its theoretical grounding, relatively short length, and sound psychometric properties. The SDS enables the assessment of distraction, which appears to be one of the pathways to problematic smartphone use facilitating overuse and overreliance on smartphones for emotion regulation processes. The assessment of distraction in relation to problematic use in vulnerable populations may facilitate interventions that could encourage metacognition and benefit these groups by allowing sustained productivity in an increasingly disrupted work and social environment.

Validating Measures of Electrodermal Activity and Heart Rate Variability Derived From the Empatica E4 Utilized in Research Settings That Involve Interactive Dyadic States

Portable and wireless devices that collect physiological data are becoming more and more sought after in clinical and psychophysiological research as technology swiftly advances. These devices allow for data collection in interactive states, such as dyadic therapy, with reduced restraints compared to traditional laboratory devices. One such portable device is the Empatica E4 wristband (Empatica Srl, Milan, Italy) which allows quantifying cardiac interbeat intervals (IBIs), heart rate variability (HRV), and electro-dermal activity (EDA), as well as several other acceleration and temperature measures. In the current study, we aimed to assess IBI, HRV, and EDA measures, against the same data collected from the well-validated MindWare mobile impedance cardiograph device (MindWare Technology, Gahanna, OH, United States). We assessed the E4 strictly as a research instrument and not as a clinical tool. We were specifically interested in the wristbands’ performance during naturalistic interactive face-to-face conversations which inherently involve more hand movements. We collected data from 30 participants, nested in 15 dyads, which were connected to both devices simultaneously, during rest and during a social conversation. After preprocessing and analyses, we found that mean IBIs obtained by the E4 and the MindWare device, were highly similar during rest and during conversation. Medium to high correlations were found between the devices with respect to several HRV measures, with higher correlations during rest compared to conversation. The E4 failed to produce reliable EDA data. We conclude by discussing the strengths and limitations of the E4 during seated conversational states and suggest optimal ways to collect and analyze data with the E4.

The relationship between physiological synchrony and motion energy synchrony during a joint group drumming task

Coordination with others in groups is crucial to group cohesion and function, yet only scant research addressed behavioral and physiological interpersonal synchrony in groups during shared activities. We present data from 39 triads instructed to drum together. Based on video-recordings of the task and participants' electrocardiograms, we computed physiological synchrony in cardiologic interbeat intervals and behavioral motion energy synchrony among group members as they were drumming together. Overall, behavioral and physiological synchrony were positively associated with continuous shifts from positive correlations to non-significant ones throughout the task. Results shed light on the relational components of group bonding and elucidate the dynamic interactions between physiological and behavioral synchrony at the group level.

Physiological and Behavioral Synchrony Predict Group Cohesion and Performance

Interpersonal synchrony contributes to social functioning in dyads, but it remains unknown how synchrony shapes group experiences and performance. To this end, we designed a novel group drumming task in which participants matched their drumming to either predictable or unpredictable tempos. Fifty-one three-person groups were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: synchronized or asynchronized drumming. Outcome measures included electrocardiograms and self-reports of group cohesion and synchrony. The drumming task elicited an increase in physiological synchrony between group members (specifically their hearts' interbeat intervals). We also found that physiological synchronization and behavioral synchronization predicted individuals' experience of group cohesion. Physiological synchrony also predicted performance in a subsequent group task that involved freely drumming together. The findings suggest that the behavioral and physiological consequences of synchronization contribute to the formation of group bonds and coordination. They also confirm that insights from translational social neuroscience can inform our knowledge of the development of cohesive and efficacious groups.

Cross-generational influences on childhood anxiety disorders: pathways and mechanisms

Anxiety disorders are common across the lifespan, cause severe distress and impairment, and usually have their onset in childhood. Substantial clinical and epidemiological research has demonstrated the existence of links between anxiety and its disorders in children and parents. Research on the pathways and mechanisms underlying these links has pointed to both behavioral and biological systems. This review synthesizes and summarizes several major aspects of this research. Behavioral systems include vicarious learning, social referencing, and modeling of parental anxiety; overly protective or critical parenting styles; and aspects of parental responses to child anxiety including family accommodation of the child's symptoms. Biological systems include aspects of the prenatal environment affected by maternal anxiety, development and functioning of the oxytocinergic system, and genetic and epigenetic transmission. Implications for the prevention and treatment of child anxiety disorders are discussed, including the potential to enhance child anxiety treatment outcomes through biologically informed parent-based interventions.