What is the 'Silent Disco Phenomenon' that makes you love your partner more when your movements are synchronized?
In discos and clubs, people dance to loud music, but in the 1970s, the 'silent disco' was born, where people don't play outside and instead wear earphones or headphones to listen to a
Silent disco: why dancing in sync brings us closer together
https://theconversation.com/silent-disco-why-dancing-in-sync-brings-us-closer-together-219208
Silent discos were born in the 1970s as a measure against noise regulations, and events are still held in the United States and Europe today. The movie below shows a Halloween party posted by an event company called Quiet Events in November 2023, with nearly 200 participants parading through the city, and it is easy to see how everyone is sharing music without having to play loud music by wearing headphones.
Subway Quiet Clubbing / Silent Disco Party powered by Quiet Events - YouTube
According to Bamford, the silent disco experience could help us better understand the evolution of musicality and rhythmic ability. When music is playing on the dance floor, you are basically receiving the same music at the same time, so you can synchronize your movements with the person in front of you. However, in the case of silent disco, you cannot accurately understand whether the person in front of you is listening to the same music with exactly the same rhythm.
In a study conducted by Bamford and his colleagues, participants in pairs wore headphones and listened to the same music. The pairs performed a simple dance as dance partners, during which the researchers added a delay to the music so that the parts they were listening to were out of sync, without either participant noticing. As a result, participants were unaware of when the timing of the music was out of sync, but they rated the 'time they shared music' as preferable when there was no lag. In addition, participants in pairs looked at each other more when they were listening to synchronized music.
A paper published by the Department of Psychology at the University of Oxford in 2016 also demonstrated that strangers form social bonds by 'moving in sync.' As in Bamford's experiment, the researchers used a 'silent disco' system in which each participant listened to music through headphones to adjust the state of synchronization. The researchers concluded that listening to synchronized music and synchronizing their dancing may stimulate the system that secretes endorphins , one of the happiness hormones.
For this reason, Bamford calls this phenomenon the 'Silent Disco Effect,' which suggests that 'synchronized movement has the effect of strengthening social bonds and making people like each other more.' A 2009 study that demonstrated the same phenomenon showed that even small movements like tapping your fingers can lead to feelings of closeness between people.
On the other hand, Bamford points out that the opposite of this silent disco phenomenon is 'online meeting fatigue' that occurs when using video calling tools. One of the reasons for online meeting fatigue is often cited as the fact that 'the rhythm of conversation is very different from face-to-face conversations.' Bamford says that it is the opposite of synchronizing music in a silent disco, where it is difficult to grasp the flow of the conversation, it is frequently interrupted, and you can't stand the slight time delays in the conversation and get annoyed.
Five reasons why online meetings cause stress - GIGAZINE
Furthermore, in a paper published in 2020, Patrick E. Savage and his colleagues at Oxford University provided some interesting insights into music and social bonding. Synchronizing with others through music induces the happiness hormone endorphins, creating a 'feel-good state,' which makes people like the people they are in sync with, allowing them to form socially important groups, leading to group unity, and motivating them to choose friends and partners. Therefore, according to Savage and his colleagues, musicality is an important point that distinguishes the human social system from our ancestral primates, and it is thought that music has evolved as a ' coevolutionary system for social bonding.'
'At a time when many people around the world are struggling with loneliness, it's important to understand how people build and maintain social bonds,' said Bamford. 'One thing is certain: music and dance have an important social function in today's society.'
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