CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 341Action Observation and SynchronizationDiversity and Impact of DanceNeuroendocrine regulation and behavior

Silent disco: dancing in synchrony leads to elevated pain thresholds and social closeness

Open access
Tarr, Bronwyn, Launay, Jacques, Dunbar, Robin I.M.·2016·Evolution and Human Behavior
DOI 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2016.02.004PMC PMC4985033
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Moving in synchrony leads to cooperative behaviour and feelings of social closeness, and dance (involving synchronisation to others and music) may cause social bonding, possibly as a consequence of released endorphins. This study uses an experimental paradigm to determine which aspects of synchrony in dance are associated with changes in pain threshold (a proxy for endorphin release) and social bonding between strangers. Those who danced in synchrony experienced elevated pain thresholds, whereas those in the partial and asynchrony conditions experienced no analgesic effects. Similarly, those in the synchrony condition reported being more socially bonded, although they did not perform more cooperatively in an economic game. This experiment suggests that dance encourages social bonding amongst co-actors by stimulating the production of endorphins, but may not make people more altruistic. We conclude that dance may have been an important human behaviour evolved to encourage social closeness between strangers.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2016.02.004

Cites

20 of 20 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Interpersonal synchrony facilitates social bonding, cohesion and exchange (the 'social glue').

    “It is an evolutionary-based mechanism that facilitates social bonding, cohesion and exchange (i.e., it is a “social glue”)1–4.”

    From Physiological and Behavioral Synchrony Predict Group Cohesion and Performance (2020) · cites this paper as [1]

    The Introduction (page unavailable) describes synchrony as fostering social bonds, a sense of being on the same team, and prosocial cooperation, while proposing an evolutionary advantage for these effects. But the Discussion (page unavailable) reports that synchronised dancers did not make higher donations than the comparison groups, so the unqualified claim that it facilitates exchange goes beyond this study's findings. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 59

  1. Aron A Aron EN Smollan D Inclusion of Other in the Self Scale and the Structure of Interpersonal Closeness Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 1992 63 4 596 612
  2. Blakemore S-J Decety J From the perception of action to the understanding of intention Nature Reviews Neuroscience 2001 2 8 561 7 11483999
  3. Bodnar RJ Endogenous opiates and behavior: 2007 Peptides 2008 29 12 2292 375 10.1016/j.peptides.2008.09.007 18851999 · DOI
  4. Burton-Chellew MN El Mouden C West SA Conditional cooperation and confusion in public-goods experiments PNAS 2016 1 6 10.1073/pnas.1509740113 PMC4747742 26787890 · DOI
  5. Burton-Chellew MN West SA Prosocial preferences do not explain human cooperation in public-goods games Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2013 110 1 216 21 10.1073/pnas.1210960110 23248298 PMC3538240 · DOI
  6. CambridgeNeurotechnology The Actiwatch User Manual V7.2 2008 CamNtech Ltd Cambridge, UK Retrieved from www.camntech.com/files/The_Actiwatch_User_Manual_V7.2.pdf
  7. Camerer CF Behavioural Game Theory Princeton University Press 2003
  8. Chartrand TL Lakin JL The antecedents and consequences of human behavioral mimicry Annual Review of Psychology 2013 64 285 308 10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143754 23020640 · DOI · Paper page
  9. Chelnokova O Laeng B Eikemo M Riegels J Løseth G Maurud H Leknes S Rewards of beauty: the opioid system mediates social motivation in humans Molecular Psychiatry 2014 1 2 10.1038/mp.2014.1 24514570 · DOI
  10. Cohen E Ejsmond-Frey R Knight N Dunbar RIM Rowers’ high: behavioural synchrony is correlated with elevated pain thresholds Biology Letters 2010 6 1 106 8 10.1098/rsbl.2009.0670 19755532 PMC2817271 · DOI · Paper page
  11. Cooper AJ Smillie LD Corr PJ A confirmatory factor analysis of the Mini-IPIP five-factor model personality scale Personality and Individual Differences 2010 48 5 688 91 10.1016/j.paid.2010.01.004 · DOI
  12. Decety J Sommerville JA Shared representations between self and other: a social cognitive neuroscience view Trends in Cognitive Sciences 2003 7 12 527 33 10.1016/j.tics.2003.10.004 14643368 · DOI · Paper page
  13. Dunbar RIM Language, music, and laughter in evolutionary perspective Oller DK Griebel U Evolution of Communication Systems: A Comparative Approach MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts; London, England 2004 54 257 74 10.1007/s10441-006-8257-1 · DOI
  14. Dunbar RIM Bridging the bonding gap: the transition from primates to humans Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences 2012a 367 1597 1837 46 10.1098/rstb.2011.0217 22641822 PMC3367699 · DOI
  15. Dunbar RIM On the Evolutionary Function of Song and Dance Bannan N Mithen S Music, Language and Human Evolution Oxford University Press 2012b 201 214
  16. Dunbar RIM Kaskatis K MacDonald I Barra V Performance of music elevates pain threshold and positive affect: implications for the evolutionary function of music Evolutionary Psychology 2012 10 4 688 702 Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23089077 23089077
  17. Dunbar RIM Korstjens aH Lehmann J Time as an ecological constraint Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society 2009 84 3 413 29 10.1111/j.1469-185X.2009.00080.x 19485986 · DOI
  18. Dunbar RIM Shultz S Bondedness and sociality Behaviour 2010 147 7 775 803 10.1163/000579510X501151 · DOI
  19. Durkheim E The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life (J W Swain Trans.) Free Press New York 1915 Retrieved from http://www.archive.org/stream/elementaryformso00durk#page/n1/mode/2up
  20. Eisenberger NI Social Pain and the Brain: Controversies, Questions, and Where to Go from Here Annual Review of Psychology 2015 66 601 29 10.1146/annurev-psych-010213-115146 25251482 · DOI
  21. Fessler DMT Holbrook C Marching into battle: synchronized walking diminishes the conceptualized formidability of an antagonist in men Biology Letters 2014 10 20140592 10.1098/rsbl.2014.0592 PMC4155918 25165456 · DOI
  22. Fitch WT The biology and evolution of rhythm: unravelling a paradox Rebuschat P Rohrmeier M Hawkins J Cross I Language and Music as Cognitive Systems Oxford University Press Oxford, UK 2012 73 96
  23. Freeman WJ A neurobiological role of music in social bonding Wallin N Merkur B Brown S The Origins of Music MIT Press Cambridge, MA 2000 411 24
  24. Gächter S Starmer C Tufano F Measuring the Closeness of Relationships: A Comprehensive Evaluation of the “Inclusion of the Other in the Self” Scale PloS ONE 2015 10 6 1 19 10.1371/journal.pone.0129478 PMC4466912 26068873 · DOI
  25. Hadley L Tidhar D Woolhouse M Effects of Observed Music-Gesture Synchronicity on Gaze and Memory Cambouropoulos E Tsougras C Mavromatis P Pastiadis K Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition and the 8th Triennial Conference of the European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music Thessaloniki, Greece 2012 384 388
  26. Hagen EH Bryant GA Music and dance as a coalition signalling system Human Nature 2003 14 1 21 51 10.1007/s12110-003-1015-z 26189987 · DOI · Paper page
  27. Hattori Y Tomonaga M Matsuzawa T Spontaneous synchronized tapping to an auditory rhythm in a chimpanzee Nature: Scientific Reports 2013 3 1566 1 6 10.1038/srep01566 PMC3610097 23535698 · DOI
  28. Henrich J Boyd R Bowles S Camerer CF Fehr E Gintis H Tracer D “Economic man” in cross-cultural perspective: behavioral experiments in 15 small-scale societies The Behavioral and Brain Sciences 2005 28 6 795 815 10.1017/S0140525X05000142 discussion 815–55 16372952 · DOI · Paper page
  29. Kirschner S Tomasello M Joint drumming: social context facilitates synchronization in preschool children Journal of Experimental Child Psychology 2009 102 3 299 314 10.1016/j.jecp.2008.07.005 18789454 · DOI · Paper page
  30. Kirschner S Tomasello M Joint music making promotes prosocial behavior in 4-year-old children Evolution and Human Behavior 2010 31 5 354 64 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2010.04.004 · DOI · Paper page
  31. Kokal I Engel A Kirschner S Keysers C Synchronized drumming enhances activity in the caudate and facilitates prosocial commitment-if the rhythm comes easily PloS ONE 2011 6 11 e27272 10.1371/journal.pone.0027272 22110623 PMC3217964 · DOI · Paper page
  32. Lakens D Movement synchrony and perceived entitativity Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 2010 46 5 701 708 10.1016/j.jesp.2010.03.015 · DOI
  33. Lehmann J Lee PC Dunbar RIM Unravelling the evolutionary function of communities Dunbar RIM Gamble C Gowlett JAJ Lucy to Language: the Benchmark Papers Oxford University Press Oxford 2014 245 76
  34. Macrae CN Duffy OK Miles LK Lawrence J A case of hand waving: Action synchrony and person perception Cognition 2008 109 1 152 6 10.1016/j.cognition.2008.07.007 18755450 · DOI
  35. Manson JH Bryant GA Gervais MM Kline MA Convergence of speech rate in conversation predicts cooperation Evolution and Human Behavior 2013 34 6 419 26 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2013.08.001 · DOI
  36. Moiseff A Copeland J Firefly synchrony: a behavioral strategy to minimize visual clutter Science 2010 329 181 10.1126/science.1190421 20616271 · DOI
  37. Mueller C Klega A Buchholz H-G Rolke R Magerl W Schirrmacher R Schreckenberger M Basal opioid receptor binding is associated with differences in sensory perception in healthy human subjects: a [18F]diprenorphine PET study NeuroImage 2010 49 1 731 7 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.08.033 19703571 · DOI · Paper page
  38. Nummenmaa L Manninen S Tuominen L Hirvonen J Kalliokoski KK Nuutila P Sams M Adult attachment style is associated with cerebral μ-opioid receptor availability in humans Human Brain Mapp 2015 36 9 10.1002/hbm.22866 PMC6869236 26046928 · DOI · Paper page
  39. Oesch N Dunbar RIM Influence of Kin Network on Maternal and Infant Health and Illness Journal of Pregnancy and Child Health 2015 2 2 10.4172/2376-127X.1000146 · DOI
  40. Olmstead MC Franklin KB The development of a conditioned place preference to morphine: effects of lesions of various CNS sites Behavioral Neuroscience 1997 111 6 1313 23 Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9438800 9438800
  41. Overy K Molnar-Szakacs I Musical experience and the mirror neuron system Music Perception: An Interdisciplinary Journal 2009 26 5 489 504
  42. Panksepp J Affective Neuroscience Oxford University Press Oxford 1999
  43. Patel AD Iversen JR Bregman MR Schulz I Experimental evidence for synchronization to a musical beat in a nonhuman animal Current Biology 2009 19 10 827 30 10.1016/j.cub.2009.03.038 19409790 · DOI
  44. Patel AD Iversen JR Bregman MR Schulz I Schulz C San C Investigating the human-specificity of synchronization to music Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition (ICMPC10) Sapporo, Japan 2008 100 4
  45. Patel AD Iversen JR Chen Y Repp BH The influence of metricality and modality on synchronization with a beat Experimental Brain Research 2005 163 2 226 38 10.1007/s00221-004-2159-8 15654589 · DOI
  46. Ragen BJ Maninger N Mendoza SP Jarcho MR Bales KL Presence of a pair-mate regulates the behavioral and physiological effects of opioid manipulation in the monogamous titi monkey (Callicebus cupreus) Psychoneuroendocrinology 2013 38 11 2448 61 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.05.009 23768970 PMC3812423 · DOI
  47. Schachner A Garvin L Does synchrony really affect social variables? Effects on cooperation, conformity may not be robust International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition Seattle Washington 2010
  48. Silk JB Social components of fitness in primate groups Science 2007 317 1347 51 10.1126/science.1140734 17823344 · DOI
  49. Silk JB Alberts SC Altmann J Social bonds of female baboons enhance infant survival Science 2003 302 1231 4 10.1126/science.1088580 14615543 · DOI · Paper page
  50. Small C Musicking: The Meaning of Performing and Listening Wesleyan/University Press of New England Hanover 1998
  51. Spence J One Thousand Families in Newcastle Oxford University Press Oxford 1954
  52. Strürmer S Snyder M Kropp A Siem B Empathy-motivated helping: the moderating role of group membership Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin 2006 32 7 943 56 10.1177/0146167206287363 16738027 · DOI
  53. Sullivan P Rickers K The effect of behavioral synchrony in groups of teammates and strangers International Journal of Sport andExercise Psychology 2013 11 3 1 6 10.1080/1612197X.2013.750139 · DOI · Paper page
  54. Sullivan P Rickers K Gagnon M Gammage KL Peters SJ The synchrony effect in treadmill running Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology 2011 33 S188
  55. Tarr B Launay J Dunbar RIM Music and social bonding: “self-other” merging and neurohormonal mechanisms Frontiers in Psychology: Auditory Cognitive Neuroscience 2014 5 1096 1 10 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01096 PMC4179700 25324805 · DOI · Paper page
  56. van Huyck JB Battalio RC Beil RO Tacit Coordination Games, Strategic Uncertainty, and Coordination Failure The American Economic Review 1990 80 1 234 48
  57. Wilson M Knoblich G The case for motor involvement in perceiving conspecifics Psychological Bulletin 2005 131 3 460 73 10.1037/0033-2909.131.3.460 15869341 · DOI
  58. Wiltermuth SS Heath C Synchrony and Cooperation Psychological Science 2009 20 1 1 5 19152536
  59. Woolhouse M Tidhar D Group dancing leads to increased person-perception Demorest S Morrison S Campbell P Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Music Perception and Cogntiion (ICMPC 11) Seattle, Washington 2010 605 8

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Tarr, B., Launay, J., & Dunbar, R. I. M.
Affiliations
University of Oxford (GB)
Corresponding author
  • Tarr, Bronwyn
  • Dunbar, Robin I.M.
ORCID
Venue
Evolution and Human Behavior
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2016-09
Volume
37
Issue
5
Pages
343-349
ISSN
1090-5138 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2016.02.004
PMC
PMC4985033
OpenAlex
W2277597206
Cited by
341
References
20
Citations by year
2026: 29 · 2025: 44 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 50 · 2022: 35 · 2021: 33 · 2020: 46 · 2019: 37 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 7
FWCI
37.06
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Evolution and Human Behavior (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • Oxford University Research Archive (ORA) (University of Oxford) (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Brunel University Research Archive (BURA) (Brunel University London) (submittedVersion)
Funders
European Research Council (295663)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Diversity and Impact of Dance
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
Keywords
dance, motor synchronization, pain threshold, endorphins, analgesia, social bonding, social proximity, altruism, cooperation, economic games, dance evolution

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review