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Fowler Z, Palombo DJ, Madan CR, O’Connor BB. Collaborative imagination synchronizes representations of the future and fosters social connection in the present. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2318292121. [PMID: 38861594 PMCID: PMC11194507 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2318292121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2023] [Accepted: 04/26/2024] [Indexed: 06/13/2024] Open
Abstract
From close friends to people on a first date, imagining a shared future appears fundamental to relationships. Yet, no previous research has conceptualized the act of imagination as a socially constructed process that affects how connected we feel to others. The present studies provide a framework for investigating imagination as a collaborative process in which individuals cocreate shared representations of hypothetical events-what we call collaborative imagination. Across two preregistered studies (N = 244), we provide evidence that collaborative imagination of a shared future fosters social connection in novel dyads-beyond imagining a shared future individually or shared experience in general. Subjective ratings and natural language processing of participants' imagined narratives illuminate the representational features of imagined events shaped by collaborative imagination. Together, the present findings have the potential to shift how we view the structure and function of imagination with implications for better understanding interpersonal relationships and collective cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zoë Fowler
- Department of Psychology, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY12222
| | - Daniela J. Palombo
- Department of Psychology, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BCV6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Christopher R. Madan
- School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, NottinghamNG7 2RD, United Kingdom
| | - Brendan Bo O’Connor
- Department of Psychology, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY12222
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2
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Rimé B, Páez D. Why We Gather: A New Look, Empirically Documented, at Émile Durkheim's Theory of Collective Assemblies and Collective Effervescence. PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2023; 18:1306-1330. [PMID: 36753611 DOI: 10.1177/17456916221146388] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/10/2023]
Abstract
For Durkheim, individuals' survival and well-being rest on cultural resources and social belonging that must be revived periodically in collective assemblies. Durkheim's concern was to clarify how these assemblies achieve this revitalization. An intensive examination of primitive religions led him to identify successive levels of engagement experienced by participants and to develop explanatory principles relevant to all types of collective gatherings. Durkheim's conception is widely referred to nowadays. However, the question of its empirical status remains open. We extracted from his text his main statements and translated them into research questions. We then examined each question in relation to current theories and findings. In particular, we relied on the plethora of recent cognitive and social-psychology studies that document conditions of reduced self-other differentiation. Abundant data support that each successive moment of collective assemblies contributes to blurring this differentiation. Ample support also exists that because shared emotions are increasingly amplified in collective context, they can fuel high-intensity experiences. Moreover, recent studies of self-transcendent emotions can account for the self-transformative effects described by Durkheim at the climax of collective assemblies. In conclusion, this century-old model is remarkably supported by recent results, mostly collected in experimental settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bernard Rimé
- Institut de Recherches en Sciences Psychologiques, Université catholique de Louvain
| | - Dario Páez
- Department of Social Psychology, University of the Basque Country
- Faculty of Education and Social Sciences, Universidad Andrés Bello, Chile
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3
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Shteynberg G, Hirsh JB, Wolf W, Bargh JA, Boothby EJ, Colman AM, Echterhoff G, Rossignac-Milon M. Theory of collective mind. Trends Cogn Sci 2023; 27:1019-1031. [PMID: 37532600 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2023.06.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2023] [Revised: 06/16/2023] [Accepted: 06/29/2023] [Indexed: 08/04/2023]
Abstract
Theory of mind research has traditionally focused on the ascription of mental states to a single individual. Here, we introduce a theory of collective mind: the ascription of a unified mental state to a group of agents with convergent experiences. Rather than differentiation between one's personal perspective and that of another agent, a theory of collective mind requires perspectival unification across agents. We review recent scholarship across the cognitive sciences concerning the conceptual foundations of collective mind representations and their empirical induction through the synchronous arrival of shared information. Research suggests that representations of a collective mind cause psychological amplification of co-attended stimuli, create relational bonds, and increase cooperation, among co-attendees.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Wouter Wolf
- Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
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Wolf W, Tomasello M. A Shared Intentionality Account of Uniquely Human Social Bonding. PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2023:17456916231201795. [PMID: 37883801 DOI: 10.1177/17456916231201795] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2023]
Abstract
Many mechanisms of social bonding are common to all primates, but humans seemingly have developed some that are unique to the species. These involve various kinds of interactive experiences-from taking a walk together to having a conversation-whose common feature is the triadic sharing of experience. Current theories of social bonding have no explanation for why humans should have these unique bonding mechanisms. Here we propose a shared intentionality account of uniquely human social bonding. Humans evolved to participate with others in unique forms of cooperative and communicative activities that both depend on and create shared experience. Sharing experience in these activities causes partners to feel closer because it allows them to assess their partner's cooperative competence and motivation toward them and because the shared representations created during such interactions make subsequent cooperative interactions easier and more effective.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wouter Wolf
- Department of Developmental Psychology, Utrecht University
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University
| | - Michael Tomasello
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University
- Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
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Wolf W, Thielhelm J, Tomasello M. Five-year-old children show cooperative preferences for faces with white sclera. J Exp Child Psychol 2023; 225:105532. [PMID: 35988359 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2022.105532] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2021] [Revised: 07/29/2022] [Accepted: 07/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
The cooperative eye hypothesis posits that human eye morphology evolved to facilitate cooperation. Although it is known that young children prefer stimuli with eyes that contain white sclera, it is unknown whether white sclera influences children's perception of a partner's cooperativeness specifically. In the current studies, we used an online methodology to present 5-year-old children with moving three-dimensional face models in which facial morphology was manipulated. Children found "alien" faces with human eyes more cooperative than faces with dark sclera (Study 2) but not faces with enlarged irises (Study 1). For more human-like faces (Study 3), children found human eyes more cooperative than either enlarged irises or dark sclera and found faces with enlarged irises cuter (but not more cooperative) than eyes with dark sclera. Together, these results provide strong support for the cooperative eye hypothesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wouter Wolf
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA; Department of Developmental Psychology, Utrecht University, 3584 CS Utrecht, the Netherlands.
| | - Julia Thielhelm
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Michael Tomasello
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA; Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
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Mitchell J, Occhipinti S, Oaten M. The affiliative power of others' pain online. JOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/jasp.12941] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jessie Mitchell
- School of Applied Psychology Griffith University Mount Gravatt Queensland Australia
| | - Stefano Occhipinti
- School of Applied Psychology Griffith University Mount Gravatt Queensland Australia
- Department of English and Communication Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hung Hom Hong Kong
| | - Megan Oaten
- School of Applied Psychology Griffith University Mount Gravatt Queensland Australia
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Jaubert T, Chekroun P, Légal JB, Gosling P. You Are Not Alone! SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1027/1864-9335/a000488] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Abstract. Experiencing ostracism is a painful situation that can urge a desire to restore social bonds. However, few studies have investigated the conditions under which it leads to ingroup identification. In three studies using minimal groups ( N = 611), we have investigated the consequences of coexperiencing ostracism for group identification and well-being. In Study 1a and 1b ( N = 171; N = 211), the results showed that sharing a common experience of ostracism with an ingroup member increases ingroup identification but does not improve psychological needs during the ostracism experience. In Study 2 ( N = 230), we replicated our results on identification and showed that sharing ostracism fosters psychological closeness with the partner ostracized but does not moderate need recovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thibault Jaubert
- Department of Psychology, Université Paris Nanterre, Nanterre, France
- Department of Psychology, Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Dijon, France
| | - Peggy Chekroun
- Department of Psychology, Université Paris Nanterre, Nanterre, France
| | | | - Patrick Gosling
- Department of Psychology, Université Paris Nanterre, Nanterre, France
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Wolf W, Tomasello M. Human children, but not great apes, become socially closer by sharing an experience in common ground. J Exp Child Psychol 2020; 199:104930. [PMID: 32693221 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2020.104930] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2020] [Revised: 06/08/2020] [Accepted: 06/09/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
To create social closeness, humans engage in a variety of social activities centered around shared experiences. Even simply watching the same video side by side creates social closeness in adults and children. However, perhaps surprisingly, a similar psychological mechanism was recently shown in great apes. Here we asked whether the process by which this social closeness is created is the same for children and great apes. Each participant entered a room to see an experimenter (E1) watching a video. In one condition, E1 looked to the participant at the start of the video to establish common ground that they were watching the video together. In another condition, E1 did not look to the participant in this way so that the participant knew they were watching the same video, but the participant did not know whether E1 was aware of this as well, so there was no common ground (E1 looked to the participant later in the procedure). Children, but not great apes, approached the experimenter faster after the common ground condition, suggesting that although both humans and great apes create social closeness by co-attending to something in close proximity, creating social closeness by sharing experiences in common ground may be a uniquely human social-cognitive process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wouter Wolf
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA; Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Michael Tomasello
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA; Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
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Busia L, Griggio M. The dawn of social bonds: what is the role of shared experiences in non-human animals? Biol Lett 2020; 16:20200201. [PMID: 32673550 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2020.0201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Group-living animals can develop social bonds. Social bonds can be considered a type of social relationship characterized by frequent and consistent affiliative (non-reproductive) interactions. Social bonds with conspecifics bring many advantages, also in terms of direct fitness. A characteristic of social bonds is that they need time to develop. Several studies on humans have emphasized the fact that sharing experiences can affect the strength of social bonds. A similar trend can be spotted in non-human species. For example, a recent experiment showed that if chimpanzees watched a video together with a conspecific, they spent more time in proximity compared to conspecifics with whom they did not actively watch a video. Another experiment on fish showed that individuals who experienced a situation of high predation risk together, showed preference for each other compared to those who did not. As the link between shared experiences and social bonds is not explicitly recognized in non-human animals, the main goal of this work is to propose the exploration of this novel research path. This exploration would contribute to shed light on the evolutionary mechanisms of social bond (or friendship) development and maintenance between individuals in different vertebrate species, from fish to non-human primates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Busia
- School of Sociology and Anthropology, Sun Yat-sen University, Kang Le Lu, Haizhu Qu, Guangzhou, Guangdong, People's Republic of China
| | - Matteo Griggio
- Department of Biology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
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Rimé B, Bouchat P, Paquot L, Giglio L. Intrapersonal, interpersonal, and social outcomes of the social sharing of emotion. Curr Opin Psychol 2020; 31:127-134. [DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2019.08.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2019] [Revised: 08/21/2019] [Accepted: 08/23/2019] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
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Watching a video together creates social closeness between children and adults. J Exp Child Psychol 2019; 189:104712. [PMID: 31677423 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2019.104712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2019] [Revised: 08/21/2019] [Accepted: 09/07/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Human social relationships are often formed through shared social activities in which individuals share mental states about external stimuli. Previous work on joint attention has shown that even minimal shared experiences such as watching something together facilitates social closeness between individuals. Here, we examined whether young children already connect with others through joint attention. In the current studies, children sat next to a novel adult who either watched a film with them or was not able to see the film and read a book instead. After the video, we measured children's willingness (i.e., latency) to approach the experimenter holding out a toy. In both studies, the 2.5-year-olds who watched the film together approached more quickly than the other children. These results show that both minimally interactive shared experiences and noninteractive shared experiences lead children to feel more comfortable with a novel adult. This suggests that joint attention interactions, and shared experiences in general, play an important role not only in children's cognitive development but also in their social development and the formation of their social relationships.
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Wolf W, Tomasello M. Visually attending to a video together facilitates great ape social closeness. Proc Biol Sci 2019; 286:20190488. [PMID: 31311469 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.0488] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans create social closeness with one another through a variety of shared social activities in which they align their emotions or mental states towards an external stimulus such as dancing to music together, playing board games together or even engaging in minimal shared experiences such as watching a movie together. Although these specific behaviours would seem to be uniquely human, it is unclear whether the underlying psychology is unique to the species, or if other species might possess some form of this psychological mechanism as well. Here we show that great apes who have visually attended to a video together with a human (study 1) and a conspecific (study 2) subsequently approach that individual faster (study 1) or spend more time in their proximity (study 2) than when they had attended to something different. Our results suggest that one of the most basic mechanisms of human social bonding-feeling closer to those with whom we act or attend together-is present in both humans and great apes, and thus has deeper evolutionary roots than previously suspected.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wouter Wolf
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.,Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Michael Tomasello
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.,Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
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Interpersonal synchrony increases social cohesion, reduces work-related stress and prevents sickdays: a longitudinal field experiment. GIO-GRUPPE-INTERAKTION-ORGANISATION-ZEITSCHRIFT FUER ANGEWANDTE ORGANISATIONSPSYCHOLOGIE 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s11612-019-00450-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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Rennung M, Göritz AS. Die Wirkung organisationaler Rituale – Eine qualitative Interviewstudie. GIO-GRUPPE-INTERAKTION-ORGANISATION-ZEITSCHRIFT FUER ANGEWANDTE ORGANISATIONSPSYCHOLOGIE 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/s11612-017-0379-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Hobson NM, Schroeder J, Risen JL, Xygalatas D, Inzlicht M. The Psychology of Rituals: An Integrative Review and Process-Based Framework. PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY REVIEW 2017; 22:260-284. [PMID: 29130838 DOI: 10.1177/1088868317734944] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Traditionally, ritual has been studied from broad sociocultural perspectives, with little consideration of the psychological processes at play. Recently, however, psychologists have begun turning their attention to the study of ritual, uncovering the causal mechanisms driving this universal aspect of human behavior. With growing interest in the psychology of ritual, this article provides an organizing framework to understand recent empirical work from social psychology, cognitive science, anthropology, behavioral economics, and neuroscience. Our framework focuses on three primary regulatory functions of rituals: regulation of (a) emotions, (b) performance goal states, and (c) social connection. We examine the possible mechanisms underlying each function by considering the bottom-up processes that emerge from the physical features of rituals and top-down processes that emerge from the psychological meaning of rituals. Our framework, by appreciating the value of psychological theory, generates novel predictions and enriches our understanding of ritual and human behavior more broadly.
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Rennung M, Göritz AS. Prosocial Consequences of Interpersonal Synchrony: A Meta-Analysis. ZEITSCHRIFT FUR PSYCHOLOGIE-JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY 2016; 224:168-189. [PMID: 28105388 PMCID: PMC5137339 DOI: 10.1027/2151-2604/a000252] [Citation(s) in RCA: 98] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2016] [Revised: 02/25/2016] [Accepted: 06/06/2016] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Abstract. The capacity to establish interpersonal synchrony is
fundamental to human beings because it constitutes the basis for social
connection and understanding. Interpersonal synchrony refers to instances when
the movements or sensations of two or more people overlap in time and form.
Recently, the causal influence of interpersonal synchrony on prosociality has
been established through experiments. The current meta-analysis is the first to
synthesize these isolated and sometimes contradictory experiments. We
meta-analyzed 60 published and unpublished experiments that compared an
interpersonal synchrony condition with at least one control condition. The
results reveal a medium effect of interpersonal synchrony on prosociality with
regard to both attitudes and behaviors. Furthermore, experimenter effects and
intentionality moderate these effects. We discuss the strengths and limitations
of our analysis, as well as its practical implications, and we suggest avenues
for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miriam Rennung
- Department of Occupational and Consumer Psychology, University of Freiburg, Germany
| | - Anja S Göritz
- Department of Occupational and Consumer Psychology, University of Freiburg, Germany
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