Recent research suggests that time-based synchronised activities like music, dance and sports, could be useful tools in bringing children closer together.
We all want our kids to be thoughtful and empathic, this new study by PLOS ONE showed that a simple game played in unison created a greater sense of similarity and connection between the children.
“Synchrony is like a glue that brings people together, it’s a magical connector for people."
said lead author Tal-Chen Rabinowitch, a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences at the University of Washington.
In the experiment, Rabinowitch tested 74 8-year-old children in pairs of two boys and two girls. The children were asked to introduce themselves to each other by name only.
The children sat side by side in front of a video screen. A soccer ball bounced on both halves of the screen, and the children pressed a button whenever the ball on their side of the screen hit the floor.
They did two 90-second trials of the game. After the game, the children filled out questionnaires about how similar and close they felt to the child they had been paired with.
A control group of pairs of children answered the same questions, but had not performed the game.
Children in the synchronous group reported a markedly greater sense of similarity and closeness.
Rabinowitch says the key is performing the same behaviour at the same time, which induces this perceived positive connection.
This interaction is bound to enhance a sense of cooperation in the children and have the ability to apply positivity on social attitudes.
It proves that there is a deep truth to the importance of people being together and feeling included.
"The findings might be applied to formulate new strategies for education in our effort to build a more collaborative and empathic future society."
says Rabinowitch
Rabinowitch hopes to reveal how music, and specifically synchrony, is able to guide and improve social and emotional interactions between humans.
No comments:
Post a Comment