Collective directional movement and the perception of social cohesion.

Stuart Wilson,Jamal K Mansour

doi:10.1111/bjso.12361

Stuart Wilson, Jamal K Mansour

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12361

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Abstract

We argue that perceivers associate collective directional movement – groups moving from one place to the next – with higher levels of social cohesion. Study 1 shows that pairs are rated as being more cohesive when described as engaging in directional movement compared to non‐directional activities. Study 2 replicates this finding using film clips. Study 3 reveals that the proximity of directionally moving dyads is a better predictor of perceived cohesion than behavioural synchrony. Study 4 replicates the original finding and reveals that perceptions of common fate and shared goals both contribute to the effect, with the former having more predictive power than the latter. We suggest that collective directional movement is an invariant part of social environments and is utilized by perceivers to make inferences about social dynamics.

Highlights

Several years ago, whilst travelling alone in Europe, one of us unexpectedly found himself walking down a street alongside a large protest march
We propose that collective directional movement represents an invariant part of the social landscape, which, in turn, serves as a reliable indicator of the social dynamics of the individuals engaging in it
Given our definition of collective directional movement, we suggest that proximity might be an important predictor of social cohesion in such groups

Summary

Introduction

Whilst travelling alone in Europe, one of us unexpectedly found himself walking down a street alongside a large protest march. For species that are highly social and dependent upon collaboration, banding together in groups to traverse shared environments can offer a multitude of benefits Both the modern world and the historical record are replete with examples of humans travelling together, from one place to the for all sorts of reasons. Wilson et al (2018) suggested that the psychological mechanisms governing social bonding are sensitive to certain kinds of group activity They characterized collective directional movement as a collaborative social behaviour that entails interdependence between participants, and from this they derived predictions about how it might influence first-person ratings of cohesion. We propose that collective directional movement represents an invariant part of the social landscape (it is common enough to be seen in all social settings), which, in turn, serves as a reliable indicator of the social dynamics of the individuals engaging in it (based on Wilson et al.’s findings and on the observation that travelling groups will tend to be cohesive more often than not due to the importance of cohesion for successful collaborative activities; see Mullen & Copper, 1994)

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