Gender and autistic traits modulate implicit motor synchrony

Abstract

Interpersonal motor synchrony during walking or dancing is universally observed across cultures, and this joint movement was modulated by physical and social parameters. However, human interactions are greatly shaped by our unique traits, and self-related factors are surprisingly little studied in the context of interpersonal motor synchrony. In this study, we investigated two such factors known to be highly associated with motor coordination: gender and autistic traits. We employed a real-world task extending our understanding beyond laboratory tasks. Participants of the same gender were paired up to walk and chat in a natural environment. A cover story was introduced so that participants would not know their walking steps were being recorded and instead believed that their location was being tracked by a global positioning system (GPS), so they would ignore the motor recording. We found that the female pairs’ steps were more synchronized than those of the males, and higher autistic tendencies (measured by the autism-spectrum quotient) attenuated synchronous steps. Those who synchronized better had higher impression rating increase for their walking partners (measured by interpersonal judgement scale) than those who synchronized less well. Our results indicated that the participants’ joint movements were shaped by predisposed traits and might share similar mechanism with social functions such as empathy.

Individual preferences in motor coordination seen across the two hands: relations to movement stability and optimality

“…This is true for the general population and becomes striking when one considers patients with an impaired motor function that may have implications for treatment strategies (Latash and Anson 1996). Recognition of this fact has led to studies of the effects of personality traits on the indices of motor performance correlated with neurophysiological findings (Picerni et al 2013; Petrosini et al 2015; Zaback et al 2015; Cheng et al 2017). …”

“…The way a person implements a solution or group of solutions could be part of his/her personal preference, a coordination trait that can distinguish this person from others. Effects of personal traits on motor coordination have been studied typically in populations with neurological or psychological abnormalities such as autism, dyspraxia, developmental coordination disorder, and others (Harris et al 2008; Lingham et al 2010; Cheng et al 2017; Curioni et al 2017). Personality traits such as risk taking, novelty seeking, reward dependence, general arousal, and fear of falling have been linked to cerebellar activity (Picerni et al 2013; Petrosini et al 2015) and are known to correlate with indices of performance (Miller and Saygin 2013; Zaback et al 2015).…”

Paired walkers with better first impression synchronize better

“…The impressions of the partners were rated before and after walking, and an improved impression after walking was correlated with step synchrony although the effect was reduced after considering individual differences (e.g. gender and autistic traits) [18]. The results suggest interpersonal synchrony can have social effects in real world settings, and are not limited to laboratory conditions with artificial tasks.…”

“…No feedback about duration was given to the participants in the paired walks. The procedure is shown in Fig 1. All participants always performed silent condition before conversational condition to avoid carryover effect from conversation, which was already reported in multiple studies previously including ours [17,18] During the walks, the participants wore voice recorders. Their walking movements were recorded by acceleration sensors (ATR-promotions, TSND121) attached above their right ankles and disguised as a GPS device.…”

“…Participants. The sample size was estimated from the effect size in our previous experiment [18], which indicated a significant correlation (r = .190, n = 153, p = .019) between walking synchrony and an enhanced post-walk impression of the partner. We estimated a similar correlation of 0.2 in the current study.…”