Deficits in joint action explain why socially anxious individuals are less well liked

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.

Disrupted joint action accounts for reduced likability of socially anxious individuals

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Motivated by their fear of disapproval, individuals with social anxiety continually monitor their own behaviour during social interactions hoping to prevent dreaded negative outcomes. Ironically, they do evoke less positive reactions from others. This study investigated whether lower engagement in the interpersonal process of joint action by socially anxious individuals leads them to attract less positive ratings by their conversation partners.

METHOD

High socially anxious (HSA; N = 36) and low socially anxious individuals (LSA; N = 36) had separate conversations with a naïve conversation partner (N = 36). Conversations were filmed and analysed for joint action using the conventional manual way and a more exploratory automated way. Conversation partners rated the quality of the interaction and the person they talked to.

RESULTS

Conversation partners rated HSA participants less positively than LSA participants. The conventional manual method showed less joint action in conversations with LSA participants and crucially, joint action served as mediator between social anxiety status and general impression, quality of interaction and desire to meet again. These results were not replicated with the automated method.

LIMITATIONS

The study used an analogue sample and future research should investigate whether these findings also apply to a clinical sample. Future studies should further explore the utility of automated techniques to measure joint action.

CONCLUSION

Reduced joint action may explain why socially anxious individuals tend to be perceived less positively by others. The findings emphasise the importance of taking an interpersonal and holistic approach to understanding aspects of social anxiety disorder.

Seeing synchrony: A replication of the effects of task-irrelevant social information on perceptions of interpersonal coordination

The display of synchronous behaviour can be both an engaging spectacle and a source of important social information. When understood as a dynamical system, interpersonal synchrony has specific kinematic qualities that have been shown to shape social perceptions. Little research, however, has examined the converse relationship - are perceptions of the kinematics of interpersonal synchrony influenced by socially relevant, but task-irrelevant, information? To provide further insight to this question we conducted a pre-registered replication of Lumsden, Miles, and Macrae (2012). Participants (n = 191) rated the level of coordination present in dyads made up of individuals with either similar or dissimilar skin tones. Faithful to the original study, the results indicated that perceivers were sensitive to differing levels of interpersonal coordination, and judged dissimilar dyads to be less coordinated than dyads with a similar skin tone despite actual coordination levels being objectively equivalent. Extending Lumsden et al., the results also revealed a negative relationship between subclinical variation in social anxiety and the degree of perceived coordination. This work is discussed with respect to the perceptual and social factors that underlie judgements of interpersonal coordination.

How to Create Shared Symbols

Human cognition and behavior are dominated by symbol use. This paper examines the social learning strategies that give rise to symbolic communication. Experiment 1 contrasts an individual-level account, based on observational learning and cognitive bias, with an inter-individual account, based on social coordinative learning. Participants played a referential communication game in which they tried to communicate a range of recurring meanings to a partner by drawing, but without using their conventional language. Individual-level learning, via observation and cognitive bias, was sufficient to produce signs that became increasingly effective, efficient, and shared over games. However, breaking a referential precedent eliminated these benefits. The most effective, most efficient, and most shared signs arose when participants could directly interact with their partner, indicating that social coordinative learning is important to the creation of shared symbols. Experiment 2 investigated the contribution of two distinct aspects of social interaction: behavior alignment and concurrent partner feedback. Each played a complementary role in the creation of shared symbols: Behavior alignment primarily drove communication effectiveness, and partner feedback primarily drove the efficiency of the evolved signs. In conclusion, inter-individual social coordinative learning is important to the evolution of effective, efficient, and shared symbols.