Synchrony and destructive obedience
Open accessAbstract
Studies demonstrated that cultural practices involving synchrony can make people more likely to engage in destructive obedience at the behest of authority figures. Participants instructed to follow a leader while walking in-step with him felt closer to him and were more willing to kill sow bugs at the leader's request in an ostensibly different experiment than were participants in other conditions. The findings are the first to indicate that synchronous activities may be used to influence leader–follower relations.
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.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
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.
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?
There is a "dark side" of group cohesion that can facilitate negative attitudes and harmful behaviors toward out-group members.
“By the same token, there is a “dark side” of group cohesion that can also serve to facilitate negative attitudes and harmful behaviors toward members of an out-group83,84.”
From Physiological and Behavioral Synchrony Predict Group Cohesion and Performance (2020) · cites this paper as [84]
The Abstract reports that synchrony increased closeness to a leader and willingness to kill sow bugs, and it cites a finding of aggression against out-group members. The General Discussion links synchrony to destructive obedience but cautions against extending the bug-killing result to harm against people. Our copy does not report negative attitudes toward out-group members. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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
Barsalou, L. W. (1999) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x99002149 · Cited by 6,887 · see citing works
Social Influence: Compliance and Conformity
Cialdini, R. B., & Goldstein, N. J. (2004) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.55.090902.142015 · Cited by 6,077 · see citing works
The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience
Varela, F. J., Rosch, E. H., & Thompson, E. T. (2017) · Project Muse (Johns Hopkins University) · Cited by 5,976 · see citing works
The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience
Varela, F. J., Rosch, E., & Thompson, E. (1991) · doi:10.7551/mitpress/6730.001.0001 · Cited by 5,765 · see citing works
Inclusion of Other in the Self Scale and the structure of interpersonal closeness.
Aron, A., Aron, E. N., & Smollan, D. (1992) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.63.4.596 · Cited by 5,157 · see citing works
Behavioral Study of obedience.
Milgram, S. (1963) · The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/h0040525 · Cited by 4,918 · cited 2× · see citing works
“Thus synchrony led people to be more likely to engage in destructive obedience, a phenomenon studied most famously by Stanley Milgram (1963, 1974) in his experiments revealing that participants were surprisingly willing to follow the experimenter’s directive to administer electrical shocks to other…”
BackgroundObedience to Authority: An Experimental View.
Wenglinsky, M., & Milgram, S. (1975) · Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews · doi:10.2307/2064024 · Cited by 3,291 · see citing works
Wiltermuth, S. S., & Heath, C. (2009) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02253.x · Cited by 1,717 · see citing works
Self-citationIt's All in the Timing: Interpersonal Synchrony Increases Affiliation
Hove, M. J., & Risen, J. L. (2009) · Social Cognition · doi:10.1521/soco.2009.27.6.949 · Cited by 1,334 · cited 1× · see citing works
“…synchrony with others increases feelings of group cohesion (Camilleri, 2002), social connectedness (Hove & Risen, 2009; Macrae, Duffy, Miles, & Lawrence, 2008; Marsh, Richardson, & Schmidt, 2009; Miles, Nind, Henderson, & Macrae, 2010; Schmidt &…”
Mimicry and Prosocial Behavior
van Baaren, R. B., Holland, R. W., Kawakami, K., & van Knippenberg, A. (2004) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.0963-7214.2004.01501012.x · Cited by 683 · see citing works
Synchrony and the social tuning of compassion.
Valdesolo, P., & DeSteno, D. (2011) · Emotion · doi:10.1037/a0021302 · Cited by 654 · see citing works
Zhong, C., & Leonardelli, G. J. (2008) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02165.x · Cited by 632 · see citing works
Social Connection Through Joint Action and Interpersonal Coordination
Marsh, K. L., Richardson, M. J., & Schmidt, R. C. (2009) · Topics in Cognitive Science · doi:10.1111/j.1756-8765.2009.01022.x · Cited by 584 · see citing works
The rhythm of joint action: synchrony promotes cooperative ability.
Valdesolo, P., Ouyang, J., & DeSteno, D. (2010) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2010.03.004 · Cited by 521 · cited 1× · see citing works
“This work has repeatedly found that common movement with others leads to a general pro-social orientation, such that people not only to behave more pro-socially toward those mimicking them but also toward people in general (Stel, Van Baaren, & Vonk, 2008 ; van Baaren, Holland, Kawakami, & van Knippenberg, 2004 ).”
Background:Keeping Together in Time: Dance and Drill in Human History
Robins, M. R., & Robins, R. (1997) · Sixteenth Century Journal · doi:10.2307/2543056 · Cited by 453 · see citing works
Dynamics of Interpersonal Coordination
Schmidt, R. C., & Richardson, M. J. (2007) · Understanding Complex Systems · doi:10.1007/978-3-540-74479-5_14 · Cited by 415 · see citing works
Mimicry for money: Behavioral consequences of imitation
van Baaren, R. B., Holland, R. W., Steenaert, B., & van Knippenberg, A. (2003) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/s0022-1031(03)00014-3 · Cited by 393 · see citing works
Synchronous multisensory stimulation blurs self-other boundaries.
Paladino, M.-P., Mazzurega, M., Pavani, F., & Schubert, T. W. (2010) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797610379234 · Cited by 297 · see citing works
Contrasting Approaches to Perceiving and Acting With Others
Marsh, K. L., Richardson, M. J., Baron, R. M., & Schmidt, R. C. (2006) · Ecological Psychology · doi:10.1207/s15326969eco1801_1 · Cited by 246 · see citing works
A case of hand waving: Action synchrony and person perception
Macrae, C. N., Duffy, O. K., Miles, L. K., & Lawrence, J. (2008) · Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2008.07.007 · Cited by 211 · see citing works
Keeping Together in Time: Dance and Drill in Human History.
Dawson, D., & McNeill, W. H. (1996) · The Journal of Military History · doi:10.2307/2944524 · Cited by 197 · see citing works
Effects of mimicking: acting prosocially by being emotionally moved
Stel, M., van Baaren, R. B., & Vonk, R. (2007) · European Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1002/ejsp.472 · Cited by 175 · see citing works
DEINDIVIDUATION: CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES
Diener, E. F. (1977) · Social Behavior and Personality An International Journal · doi:10.2224/sbp.1977.5.1.143 · Cited by 141 · see citing works
Similarity, Sex, and Requests for Small Favors1
Emswiller, T., Deaux, K., & Willits, J. E. (1971) · Journal of Applied Social Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.1971.tb00367.x · Cited by 128 · see citing works
Moving memories: behavioral synchrony and memory for self and others
Miles, L. K., Nind, L. K., Henderson, Z., & Macrae, C. N. (2010) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2009.12.006 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
The Effect of Fleeting Attraction on Compliance to Requests
Burger, J. M., Soroka, S., Gonzago, K., Murphy, E., & Somervell, E. (2001) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/01461672012712002 · Cited by 111 · see citing works
Impact of Desired Relationship Type on Affective Reactions to Choosing and Being Required to Help
Williamson, G. M., & Clark, M. S. (1992) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167292181002 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
Martens, A., Kosloff, S., Greenberg, J., Landau, M. J., & Schmader, T. (2007) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167207303020 · Cited by 82 · see citing works
Synchronous activity boosts compliance with requests to aggress
Wiltermuth, S. S. (2012) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2011.10.007 · Cited by 81 · see citing works
Self-citationDialogue Involvement as a Social Influence Technique
Doliński, D., Nawrat, M., & Rudak, I. (2001) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/01461672012711001 · Cited by 81 · see citing works
Ehrenreich, B. (2006) · Cited by 48 · see citing works
Constructive Consequences of Leaders’ Forcing Influence Styles
Emans, B. J. M., Munduate, L., Klaver, E., & de Vliert, E. V. (2003) · Applied Psychology · doi:10.1111/1464-0597.00122 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Community building through drumming
Camilleri, V. (2002) · The Arts in Psychotherapy · doi:10.1016/s0197-4556(02)00158-2 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Strzelczyk, F. (2004) · The German Quarterly · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
The Antecedents and Consequences of Human Behavioral Mimicry
Chartrand, T. L., & Lakin, J. L. (2013) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143754 · Cited by 662 · see citing works
“…2010, Valdesolo & DeSteno 2011, Wiltermuth & Heath 2009); increases conformity (Paladino et al. 2010), compliance with a request to aggress (Wiltermuth 2012a), and obedience (Wiltermuth 2012b); improves memory for information provided by and about an interaction partner (Macrae et al.…”
BackgroundKeller, P. E., Novembre, G., & Hove, M. J. (2014) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2013.0394 · Cited by 466 · see citing works
Prosocial Consequences of Interpersonal Synchrony
Rennung, M., & Göritz, A. S. (2016) · Zeitschrift für Psychologie · doi:10.1027/2151-2604/a000252 · Cited by 298 · see citing works
“No 40 Wiltermuth, 2012a (sample 1) Yes Large n.a.”
BackgroundInfluentialMeta-Analyses of the Intra- and Interpersonal Outcomes of Interpersonal Coordination
Vicaria, I. M., & Dickens, L. R. (2016) · Journal of Nonverbal Behavior · doi:10.1007/s10919-016-0238-8 · Cited by 207 · see citing works
Autism and social disconnection in interpersonal rocking
Marsh, K. L., Isenhower, R. W., Richardson, M. J., Helt, M., Verbalis, A. D., Schmidt, R. C., & FEIN, D. A. (2013) · Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnint.2013.00004 · Cited by 197 · see citing works
“Moreover, research with adults importantly links such interpersonal synchrony to creation of social bonds and increased susceptibility to others’ influence (e.g., Hove and Risen, 2009; Miles et al., 2009; Wiltermuth and Heath, 2009; Wiltermuth, 2012).”
BackgroundCollective synchrony increases prosociality towards non‐performers and outgroup members
Reddish, P., Tong, E. M. W., Jong, J., Lanman, J. A., & Whitehouse, H. (2016) · British Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1111/bjso.12165 · Cited by 158 · see citing works
Physiological and Behavioral Synchrony Predict Group Cohesion and Performance
Gordon, I., Gilboa, A., Cohen, S., Milstein, N., Haimovich, N., Pinhasi, S., & Siegman, S. (2020) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-020-65670-1 · Cited by 146 · see citing works
Movement Synchrony Forges Social Bonds across Group Divides
Tunçgenç, B., & Cohen, E. E. A. (2016) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00782 · Cited by 153 · see citing works
Fessler, D. M. T., & Holbrook, C. (2014) · Biology Letters · doi:10.1098/rsbl.2014.0592 · Cited by 126 · see citing works
“Although much literature on synchrony in humans stresses its prosocial consequences, increased bonding and cooperation with ingroup members can produce destructive behaviours directed at outgroups: synchrony increases compliance with requests to aggress against an outgroup [19] or kill insects [20].”
BackgroundSynchrony and Physiological Arousal Increase Cohesion and Cooperation in Large Naturalistic Groups
Jackson, J. C., Jong, J., Bilkey, D. K., Whitehouse, H., Zollmann, S., McNaughton, C., & Halberstadt, J. B. (2018) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-017-18023-4 · Cited by 124 · see citing works
Sync or sink? Interpersonal synchrony impacts self-esteem
Lumsden, J., Miles, L. K., & Macrae, C. N. (2014) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01064 · Cited by 118 · see citing works
“As the current work is theoretically grounded in the science of coordination dynamics (e.g., Kelso, 1995, 2009), we first outline the principles of this approach and the resultant implications for understanding social functioning.”
BackgroundYour place or mine: Shared sensory experiences elicit a remapping of peripersonal space
Maister, L., Cardini, F., Zamariola, G., Serino, A., & Tsakiris, M. (2015) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2014.10.027 · Cited by 93 · see citing works
“…similar to those elicited by more ecologically valid social interactions with a synchronous, embodied component, such as interpersonal motor synchrony, which has been shown to similarly increase affiliation (Hove & Risen, 2009), trust (Wiltermuth & Heath, 2009) and conformity (Wiltermuth, 2012).”
Synchronising movements with the sounds of a virtual partner enhances partner likeability
Launay, J., Dean, R. T., & Bailes, F. (2014) · Cognitive Processing · doi:10.1007/s10339-014-0618-0 · Cited by 91 · see citing works
“…time with other people and moving along to musical stimuli can make us more likely to trust others in subsequent tasks (Wiltermuth and Heath 2009; Wiltermuth 2012) and also that moving in time with a partner can make us more likely to help them when they are placed in a difficult situation…”
BackgroundBitterly, T. B., & Schweitzer, M. E. (2019) · Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes · doi:10.1016/j.obhdp.2019.01.005 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
“…2014; Gino, Norton, & Ariely, 2010; Huang, Zhao, Niu, Ashford, & Lee, 2013; Levine & Schweitzer, 2014, 2015; Neel, Neufeld, & Neuberg, 2013; Wilcox, Kim, & Sen, 2009; Wiltermuth, 2012a, 2012b; Wiltermuth, Bennett, & Pierce, 2013; Wiltermuth, Newman, & Raj, 2015; Wolf, Lee, Sah, & Brooks, 2016).”
The cultural evolutionary trade-off of ritualistic synchrony
Gelfand, M. J., Caluori, N., Jackson, J. C., & Taylor, M. K. (2020) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2019.0432 · Cited by 84 · see citing works
“In support of this notion, several studies have found that synchrony can promote conformity [40,69], aggression [70] and destructive obedience [71,72].”
BackgroundIntragroup Emotion Convergence: Beyond Contagion and Social Appraisal
Parkinson, B. (2020) · Personality and Social Psychology Review · doi:10.1177/1088868319882596 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
“Certain group members can thus take on the specific responsibility of setting the tone for convergent collective emotions and their regulatory efforts exploit the solidarity-inducing effects of synchronous activity (e.g., Wiltermuth, 2012), as well as communicating normative information.”
BackgroundThe intrapersonal and interpersonal consequences of interpersonal synchrony
Hu, Y., Cheng, X., Pan, Y., & Hu, Y. (2022) · Acta Psychologica · doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2022.103513 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
Synchronized behavior increases assessments of the formidability and cohesion of coalitions
Fessler, D. M. T., & Holbrook, C. (2016) · Evolution and Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2016.05.003 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
“…2009; Hove & Risen, 2009; Cohen et al., 2010; Kirschner & Tomasello, 2010; Valdesolo et al., 2010; Kokal et al., 2011; Valdesolo & DeSteno, 2011; Wiltermuth, 2012b; Wiltermuth, 2012a; Fischer et al., 2013; Launay et al., 2013; Reddish et al., 2013a; Reddish et al., 2013b; Kirschner &…”
BackgroundInfluentialOxytocin improves synchronisation in leader-follower interaction
Gebauer, L., Witek, M. A. G., Hansen, N. C., Thomas, J., Konvalinka, I., & Vuust, P. (2016) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/srep38416 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Verbal Synchrony and Action Dynamics in Large Groups
von Zimmermann, J., & Richardson, D. C. (2016) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.02034 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
“…one another through synchronous action were more likely to comply with each other’s requests, even if this entailed to engage in aggressive behavior toward others, such as administering a noise blast to another group of participants, or killing sow bugs at a leader’s request (Wiltermuth, 2012a,b).”
BackgroundHow Moving Together Brings Us Together: When Coordinated Rhythmic Movement Affects Cooperation
Cross, L., Wilson, A. D., & Golonka, S. (2016) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01983 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
“Wiltermuth (2012), on the other hand, measured group integrators only (i.e., perceived closeness, connectedness and similarity to the group) and labeled the construct emotional connection (see also Wiltermuth and Heath, 2009; Lumsden et al., 2014; Dong et al., 2015).”
Designing for interpersonal motor synchronization
Rinott, M., & Tractinsky, N. (2021) · Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1080/07370024.2021.1912608 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
“In an experiment designed to test this idea, Wiltermuth (2012) had participants walk in synchrony with a leading figure.”
BackgroundInfluentialCohesion and Joint Speech: Right Hemisphere Contributions to Synchronized Vocal Production
Jasmin, K. M., McGettigan, C., Agnew, Z. K., Lavan, N., Josephs, O., Cummins, F., & Scott, S. K. (2016) · Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.4075-15.2016 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
“task after playing music together (Anshel and Kipper, 1988; Wiltermuth and Heath, 2009; Kirschner and Tomasello, 2010), and simply tapping a finger synchronously with another person increases feelings of affiliation (Hove and Risen, 2009; Wiltermuth, 2012) while walking in step together boosts confidence (Fessler and…”
BackgroundMusical engagement as a duet of tight synchrony and loose interpretability
Rabinowitch, T.-C. (2022) · Physics of Life Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.plrev.2022.12.019 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Ayache, J., Connor, A. M., Marks, S., Kuss, D. J., Rhodes, D., Sumich, A. L., & Heym, N. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.718237 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Prosocial effects of coordination – What, how and why?
Michael, J., McEllin, L. S., & Felber, A. (2020) · Acta Psychologica · doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2020.103083 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
“On the other hand, they are repeatedly performing different or even opposite actions, so one might expect them to not identify each other as good candidates for cooperation – and there is some evidence to support this as well (Wiltermuth, 2012).”
BackgroundInfluentialRitual Work and the Formation of a Shared Sense of Meaningfulness
Lepisto, D. A. (2021) · Academy of Management Journal · doi:10.5465/amj.2018.0854 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Gibson, S. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108367943 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
van Vugt, F. T., Ritter, J., Rollnik, J. D., & Altenmüller, E. (2014) · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnhum.2014.00315 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
“…(musical) movements in synchrony has been shown to improve feelings of reciprocal likeability (Hove and Risen, 2009), trust (Wiltermuth and Heath, 2009; Launay et al., 2013), pseudo-altruism (Kokal et al., 2011; Valdesolo and Desteno, 2011), and even destructive obedience (Wiltermuth, 2012).”
BackgroundSocial and nonlinear dynamics unite: musical group synchrony
Demos, A. P., & Palmėr, C. (2023) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2023.05.005 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Resonance as a Design Strategy for AI and Social Robots
Lomas, D., Lin, A., Dikker, S., Förster, D., Lupetti, M. L., Huisman, G., Habekost, J., Beardow, C., Pandey, P., Ahmad, N., et al. (2022) · Frontiers in Neurorobotics · doi:10.3389/fnbot.2022.850489 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
“They point to findings (Wiltermuth, 2012a,b) that people who have been randomly assigned to a synchronous activity are more likely to comply with an anti-social order (e.g., irritating a stranger) and to follow a morally compromised command (in the study, participants were asked to grind up live…”
BackgroundGöritz, A. S., & Rennung, M. (2019) · Gruppe Interaktion Organisation Zeitschrift für Angewandte Organisationspsychologie (GIO) · doi:10.1007/s11612-019-00450-8 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Interpersonal synchrony affects performers’ sense of agency
Reddish, P., Tong, E. M. W., Jong, J., & Whitehouse, H. (2019) · Self and Identity · doi:10.1080/15298868.2019.1604427 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
“…with recent studies showing greater self-reported self-other overlap after synchrony (Fessler & Holbrook, 2014; Reddish, Fischer, & Bulbulia, 2013; Wiltermuth, 2012a, 2012b) and with self-other overlap mediating synchrony’s effects on social bonding and cooperation (Lang, Bahna, Shaver, Reddish,…”
Hamel, L. M., Moulder, R. G., Jr., Ramseyer, F., Penner, L. A., Albrecht, T. L., Boker, S. M., & Eggly, S. S. (2022) · Cancer Control · doi:10.1177/10732748221113905 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
“Higher levels of nonverbal synchrony result in more subsequent positive affect and liking,(36) perceptions of similarity, closeness, rapport with the interaction partner, and collaborative problem solving.(35,39,40) Relevant to clinical outcomes, nonverbal synchrony positively influences therapeutic processes,(41) coo…”
BackgroundThe Potential Role of Dopamine in Mediating Motor Function and Interpersonal Synchrony
Gvirts, H. Z., & Dahan, A. (2021) · Biomedicines · doi:10.3390/biomedicines9040382 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
“As such, synchronous activity was found to boost harmful behavior such as compliance with requests to exhibit aggression and destructive obedience [115].”
BackgroundWhen Going Along Gets You Nowhere and the Upside of Conflict Behaviors
Cikara, M., & Paluck, E. (2013) · Social and Personality Psychology Compass · doi:10.1111/spc3.12047 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Hamel, L. M., Moulder, R. G., Jr., Albrecht, T. L., Boker, S. M., Eggly, S. S., & Penner, L. A. (2018) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2018-023648 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Conflict experience and resolution underlying obedience to authority
Götz, F. J., Mitschke, V., & Eder, A. B. (2023) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-023-38067-z · Cited by 23 · see citing works
“Previous research has already used the paradigm to investigate the effects of initial bug-killing 30 , synchronization 31 , or gratitude (in a worm-killing variant) 32 on subsequent volitional or voluntary killing, in the latter two instances as an index of obedience.”
MethodImagined Steps: Mental Simulation of Coordinated Rhythmic Movements Effects on Pro-sociality
Cross, L., Atherton, G., Wilson, A. D., & Golonka, S. (2017) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01798 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
“For instance, Wiltermuth and Heath (2009) found that greater cooperation seen among groups of co-actors who had engaged in synchronized walking was partially mediated by greater group cohesion (see also, Wiltermuth, 2012).”
Caring For, About, and With: Exploring Musical Meaningfulness Among Suzuki Students and Parents
Hendricks, K. S., Einarson, K. M., Mitchell, N., Guerriero, E. M., & D’Ercole, P. D. (2021) · Frontiers in Education · doi:10.3389/feduc.2021.648776 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
“…one another as more likeable and more affiliated (Hove and Risen, 2009), and those who unwittingly synchronize footsteps with an experimenter are more likely to comply with instructions that would cause harm to another (Wiltermuth, 2012), indicating the formation of a bond with the experimenter.”
BackgroundGranner-Shuman, M., Dahan, A., Yozevitch, R., & Gvirts, H. Z. (2021) · Symmetry · doi:10.3390/sym13061034 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Crossey, B. P., Atherton, G., & Cross, L. (2021) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0254017 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
“Other research has shown that after moving synchronously together, participants are more likely to help their co-actors, even some time after the initial coordination task [14], as well as to conform and obey their requests [15, 16], and show better memories for co-actors [17–19].”
BackgroundHonisch, J. J., Mane, P., Golan, O., & Chakrabarti, B. (2021) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-021-88112-y · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Social Ecological Context of Conversing
Marsh, K. L. (2015) · Ecological Psychology · doi:10.1080/10407413.2015.1086229 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
“…research also shows that synchrony has a role in such domains as affiliation, person memory, and social influence and compliance (Hove & Risen, 2009; Vacharkulksemsuk & Fredrickson, 2012; Valdesolo & DeSteno, 2011; Valdesolo, Ouyang, & DeSteno, 2010; Wiltermuth, 2012; Wiltermuth & Heath, 2009).”
BackgroundI’ll just watch: Do the pro-social effects of coordination really generalize to non-actors?
Cross, L., Wilson, A. D., & Golonka, S. (2019) · The Journal of Social Psychology · doi:10.1080/00224545.2019.1623161 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
“It is also worth noting that other social effects of CRM (e.g. greater obedience in committing destructive acts (see Wiltermuth, 2012) have also been found to be restricted to only those who participate in the coordination.”
BackgroundBowsher-Murray, C., Jones, C. R. G., & Hagen, E. V. D. (2023) · Journal of Experimental Child Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jecp.2023.105669 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
“…(i.e., partners at the same point of the movement cycle at the same time) and anti-phase synchrony (i.e., partner movements always at opposite points of the movement cycle) can have equally positive effects on affiliation (Cirelli et al., 2014; Cross et al., 2016; but cf. Wiltermuth, 2012).”
BackgroundDisentangling the Multiple Dimensions of Empathy Through Interactive Psychometrics
Ayache, J., Dumas, G., Sumich, A. L., Kuss, D. J., Rhodes, D., & Heym, N. (2023) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2023.112478 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Collective harmdoing: Developing the perspective of the perpetrator.
Louis, W. R., Amiot, C. E., & Thomas, E. F. (2015) · Peace and Conflict Journal of Peace Psychology · doi:10.1037/pac0000112 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
“…research considers harmdoing as a global topic: it is typically studied in segmented silos (murders; rapes; gang violence; war) and that research is disproportionately focused on individual pathology (e.g., forensic, clinical; cf., e.g., Jylhänkangas et al., 2014; Staub, 2012; Wiltermuth, 2012).”
BackgroundThe Chameleon as a Leech: The Costs of Mimicry for the Mimickee
Kot, S., & Kulesza, W. M. (2016) · Polish Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1515/ppb-2016-0014 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
“Wiltermuth (2012a) conducted a study on destructive obedience that partially addressed this issue, finding that the mimickee does not lose; however, he/she caused some kind of a loss for others.”
Introducing a New Method for Studying the Effects of Movement Synchrony in Virtual Reality
Yekani, M., Tehrani‐Doost, M., Rahimi, M., & Vahabie, A. (2024) · Basic and Clinical Neuroscience Journal · doi:10.32598/bcn.2022.4697.1 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
“However, creating an immersive and valid VR environment is a demanding task (Wiltermuth, 2012).”
BackgroundFanari, A., Gahler, H., Case, T., Gim, H., & Harwood, J. (2022) · Journal of Intercultural Communication Research · doi:10.1080/17475759.2022.2028657 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
“our liking for, cooperation with, and empathy for others (Wiltermuth, 2012), deepening relationships via the sense of shared emotional experience that comes from shared musical experiences (Rabinowitch et al.”
BackgroundRituals and Group Solidarity: An Ethnographic Case Study
Mentel, A. (2022) · Slovenský národopis · doi:10.31577/sn.2022.2.20 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
“Contrastingly, some studies show that synchrony can also promote conformity (Dong, Dai, Wyer, 2015) or even destructive obedience of group members to authority (Wiltermuth, 2012).”
BackgroundThe new trinity of religious moral character: the Cooperator, the Crusader, and the Complicit
Abrams, S., Jackson, J. C., & Gray, K. J. (2020) · Current Opinion in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2020.09.001 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Understanding the effects of rhythmic coordination on children's prosocial behaviours
Wan, Y., & Zhu, L. (2021) · Infant and Child Development · doi:10.1002/icd.2282 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Verbal Synchrony in Large Groups
von Zimmermann, J., & Richardson, D. C. (2015) · UCL Discovery (University College London) · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Truth-tellers' and liars' synchrony during attitude-inconsistent conversations
Dunbar, N. E., Fujiwara, K., & Bernhold, Q. S. (2023) · Frontiers in Communication · doi:10.3389/fcomm.2023.921446 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“Knowing whether one participant is taking the lead or the synchrony is jointly enacted may help understand dominance and also whether the synchrony is strategic or spontaneous (e.g., Wiltermuth, 2012; Hofmans et al., 2019).”
BackgroundWord of mouth in consumers purchase decisions: The moderating role of product type
Bhayani, A. (2016) · Research Online (University of Wollongong) · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Hamel, L. M., Moulder, R. G., Jr., Harper, F. W. K., Manojlovich, M., Ramseyer, F., Penner, L. A., Albrecht, T. L., Boker, S. M., Bagautdinova, D., & Eggly, S. S. (2025) · Cancer Control · doi:10.1177/10732748251375517 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“35 37-42 Research outside of clinical settings has identi fi ed positive relationships with nonverbal synchrony that are likely important for the clinical context including cooperation, 43 adherence, 40 and recollection of what transpired during an interaction.”
Moving From Me to We: Interpersonal Coordination’s Effects on Self-Construal
Cross, L., Whiteman, L., Ward, S., & Atherton, G. (2021) · Open Psychology · doi:10.1515/psych-2020-0110 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Culture, Cognition, and Ritual
Xygalatas, D. (2024) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780197689783.003.0003 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
The Evolution of Religion and Morality
Shariff, A., & Mercier, B. (2016) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199397747.013.18 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Painting in coordination is perceived as a positive interpersonal interaction
Abraham, R., Grinspun, N., & Rabinowitch, T.-C. (2023) · The Arts in Psychotherapy · doi:10.1016/j.aip.2023.102020 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Coordinating Social Beings in Motion
Marsh, K. L. (2012) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195393705.003.0014 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“Synchrony can also have destructive as well as constructive consequences (McNeill, 1995); individuals who were induced to synchronize with another person were consequently more likely to comply with that person’s request to lie or to kill bugs (Wiltermuth, 2012).”
BackgroundSocial and peer influences in college choice
Bhayani, A. (2015) · Research Online (University of Wollongong) · Cited by 3 · see citing works
van Vugt, F. T. (2013) · HAL · Cited by 2 · see citing works
The Binding and Blinding Effects of Collective Ritual: Intergroup Biases and Processes
Hobson, N. M. (2013) · TSpace (University of Toronto) · Cited by 2 · see citing works
From a Physical to a Rhetorical Metaphor
Gibson, S. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108367943.008 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Encouraging Interpersonal Motor Synchrony Benefits Children with Autism
Galbraith, C., Sturges, M., & Gray, T. L. (2026) · Current Developmental Disorders Reports · doi:10.1007/s40474-026-00350-9 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Ritual Contention in Divided Societies: Participation in Loyalist Parades in Northern Ireland
Blake, J. S. (2015) · doi:10.7916/d8125rkn · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Gerner, A. (2017) · Kairos · doi:10.1515/kjps-2017-0012 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
von Zimmermann, J., & Richardson, D. C. (2016) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781107279353.013 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Adair, R. (2016) · Emerald Group Publishing Limited eBooks · doi:10.1108/978-1-78560-948-020161028 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Hwang, J. Y. (2022) · Colloquia Theologica Ottoniana · doi:10.18276/cto.2022.38-10 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“It was an example of “crimes of obedience” 31 or “destructive obedience” 32 against the promotion of social justice and human dignity.”
BackgroundGibson, S. (2019) · doi:10.1017/9781108367943.010 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Wiltermuth, S. S., & Raj, M. (2016) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781316225608.008
Self-citationAn Illusion, a Capability, a Tendency: Formation of Groups and the Encounter with Gods
Ergener, R. (2020) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-44455-6_2
Gibson, S. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108367943.003
Gibson, S. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108367943.002
Gibson, S. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108367943.004
From Passive Agents to Active Rhetoricians
Gibson, S. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108367943.007
From Standardised Procedure to Flexible Rhetoric
Gibson, S. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108367943.005
Gibson, S. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108367943.009
Gibson, S. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108367943.001
From Proximity to Argumentation
Gibson, S. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108367943.006
Gibson, S. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108367943.011
Shaposhnikov, L., Rinott, M., & Tractinsky, N. (2024) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4768771
Biswas, M., & Braß, M. (2024) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2024.11.21.622221
Gratitude and Self-Benefiting Obedience: Gratitude Eliciting Dishonest Behavior Out of Obedience
Tong, E. M. W., Lau, G. R., Poh, D. X. Q., Chan, D. J. H., Lim, C. L., Low, M. W. Y., & Tan, B. S. A. (2025) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/01461672251378534
“Harming worms (Tong et al., 2021), although appalling, may not reach the threshold of what people generally consider immoral (Wiltermuth, 2012), and some people may not even regard worms as sentient beings.”
Sounds on time : auditory feedback in learning, re-learning and over-learning of motor regularity
van Vugt, F. T. (2013) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/3351d3c9z5539z4c95z9240z84b96f2eb35e
Feeling in Sync: Reducing the Impact of Network Latency on Joint Rowing
Simon, L. S., Klass, L., Lammert, A. B., Fröhlich, B., Ehlers, J., & Hornecker, E. (2026) · IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics · doi:10.1109/tvcg.2026.3679084
“These shared rhythms can also enhance trust [38], encourage cooperative behaviour [50,71], and improve overall user experience [4].”
- Authors
- Wiltermuth, S.
- Affiliations
- University of Southern California (US)
- Corresponding author
- Wiltermuth, Scott
- ORCID
- Wiltermuth, Scott
- Venue
- Social Influence
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2012-04
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 78-89
- ISSN
- 1553-4510 (ISSN-L)
- 1553-4529
- OpenAlex
- W2012402715
- Cited by
- 96
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 19.98
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Social Influence (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Psychology of Social Influence
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Keywords
- synchrony, leader-follower relationships, authority, in-group favoritism, group cohesion, obedience to authority
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
