ORCID
- Liam Cross: 0000-0002-5122-1650
- Gray Atherton: 0000-0002-3954-9127
Abstract
Synchronous movement between individuals has been shown to increase pro-sociality, such as closeness and generosity. To date, synchrony research tests these effects using a variety of movement tasks, including musical and non-musical coordination. However, musical versus non-musical synchrony may have separable pro-social effects. To test this, we had 60 children immersed in an augmented reality space called the 'Moving Mandala' where they moved asynchronously with only visual cues, synchronously with only visual cues or synchronously with musical and visual cues. We then tested for differences in pro-social effects using sharing and proxemics tasks. Results showed that while the synchrony version of the mandala led to greater closeness in the proxemics task, the musical synchrony led to more pro-sociality on the sharing task. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Publication Date
2025-03-19
Publication Title
European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education
Volume
15
Issue
3
ISSN
2174-8144
Keywords
coordination, entrainment, full-body interaction, mixed reality, pro-sociality, synchrony
Recommended Citation
Cross, L., Pares, N., Gali, O., Ercan, S., Sayis, B., Heaton, P., & Atherton, G. (2025) 'The Moving Mandala: Exploring the Pro-Social Effects of Musical and Non-Musical Synchrony in Children in a Virtual World', European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education, 15(3). Available at: 10.3390/ejihpe15030039
