The Mechanism of Music Interpersonal Synchronous Activity Promoting Social Bonding

Yu Zhe; Lu Qinglan; Wu Zhelikun; Li Jing

doi:10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20250112

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Journal of Psychological Science ›› 2025, Vol. 48 ›› Issue (1) : 118-128. DOI: 10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20250112

Social，Personality & Organizational Psychology

The Mechanism of Music Interpersonal Synchronous Activity Promoting Social Bonding

Yu Zhe^1,2, Lu Qinglan^1,2, Wu Zhelikun^1,2, Li Jing^1,2

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Abstract

Music activity is one of the human activities that trigger spontaneous social influence, and the interpersonal synchronous activity accompanied by music can be seen everywhere in life, such as choral singing by musical groups, square dances in residential areas, and ceremonial dragon boat races or ethnic synchronized group dances. As music research has become an international hotspot, this paper discusses the role it plays in human survival. From an evolutionary perspective, social bonding is beneficial for the formation of social groups and is essential for human survival against natural threats. Interpersonal synchrony can promote social bonding between people, and music plays a role in this. Why does musical interpersonal synchrony promote social bonding?
There is a natural link between music, synchronization and social bonding. We believe that musical interpersonal synchronous activity promotes social bonding, which is a complex social psychological phenomenon. There are three aspects to this process: physical, psychological and social. First, this article discusses two elements of music itself, rhythm elements and emotional arousal elements, which can provide an external framework for the process of social bonding facilitated by interpersonal synchronous activities. Different forms of musical activity have different effects in this regard. Second, referring to the "physio-psycho-social" framework, this article analyzes the mechanism of the influence of musical interpersonal synchronous activities on social bonding, in order to find out whether and how musical interpersonal synchronous activities promote social bonding, and to point out the direction for the development of subsequent theoretical research and intervention research.
The study found that interpersonal synchronous activity under musical conditions promotes social bonding, and that physiological mechanisms underlie the psychological mechanisms that contribute to this process. Furthermore, social factors influence the extent to which physiological and psychological mechanisms facilitate social bonding through interpersonal synchronous activity under musical conditions. Specifically, physiological mechanisms, the brain network and inter-brain synchronization are activated, along with the release of neurohormones such as endogenous opioids and oxytocin. Moreover, activation of the dopamine reward system provides additional support for inter-brain synchronization, thereby promoting social bonding between individuals. Regarding psychological mechanisms consist primarily of cooperation, perceived similarity, and collective effervescence. Social factors include internal and external groups, face-to-face and virtual synchrony, and group size. The mechanisms that influence musical interpersonal synchronous activity in promoting social bonding under different group sizes have similarities and differences. For example, perceived similarity and cooperation in psychological mechanisms exist mainly in small groups (binary interaction and multi-person interaction), with perceived similarity dominating in binary interaction and cooperation dominating in multi-person interaction. The collective effervescence is more appropriate to explain social bonding in large groups. The physiological mechanisms involved in brain network and interbrain synchronization, the endogenous opioid system, the dopaminergic reward system and oxytocin are applicable to all three population sizes, in which the mirror nervous system is the physiological basis for perceiving similarity. The physiological and psychological mechanisms involved in interpersonal synchronous activity of music at these three different scales have different emphases, which has some reference value for future researchers to choose the group size when designing studies. However, the specific interaction between physiology and psychology still needs to be further investigated.
In this study, the explanatory models for musical interpersonal synchronous activity that promotes social bonding show inconsistencies. A comprehensive and systematic framework that can capture the complex mechanisms has yet to be established. In the future, more attention should be paid to analyzing the mechanisms behind musical interpersonal synchronous activity that promotes social bonding in large groups. Furthermore, related intervention studies are relatively limited. In the future, it would be preferable to conduct additional intervention studies on music interpersonal synchronization to improve social bonding performance in autism groups. There is a need for more research on musical interpersonal synchronous activity to identify more explanatory variables. In addition, different intervention methods should be derived to promote social bonding among children and help them adapt better to the school community.

Key words

music / interpersonal synchrony / social bonding / physio-psycho-social model

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Yu Zhe, Lu Qinglan, Wu Zhelikun, Li Jing. The Mechanism of Music Interpersonal Synchronous Activity Promoting Social Bonding[J]. Journal of Psychological Science. 2025, 48(1): 118-128 https://doi.org/10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20250112

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