Synchronized Walking
This post is an extension of the article about Empathy and storytelling (click here to read it). Reading the article is not necessary to understand the information on this post!
“There’s something about the rhythm of walking, how, after about an hour and a half, the mind and body can’t help getting in sync”
We’re gonna take a look at the phenomenon of synchronized walking; this happens more often than we imagine. Usually, we tend to mimic and mirror another’s posture and body language subconsciously when we’re talking with another person, especially if we are engaged in the conversation. But this can happen also while walking. When two people are walking down a street and are interacting with each other they tend to synchronize their steps more often than random chance would allow. Like mirroring postures, synchronized walking is normally a sign of friendliness and sociability. It is another example of how deeply and unconsciously we interact with each other. The synchronization can be direct-with the left leg matching the other’s left leg position, or it can be mirrored-with the left leg matching the other’s right leg position. In either case, the walking gait and the contact point will remain in sync, with the same timing.
Exactly why this happens doesn’t seem to be completely clear yet, but there are some circumstances that seem to trigger the synchronization more than others.
When two people have a close relationship, when they have known each other for a while they tend to sync up their steps more even without a lot of interactions.
When two people are in a conversation or when they are interacting they tend to sync up more. Their head orientation, gaze, gestures, and body language have an influence on their walking gait.
When they are holding hands. This is one of the major factors of synchronicity, couples who hold hands are much more likely to sync their steps. It is probably due to the mechanical constraints that the held hand applies. If their hand swing together back and forth the rest of the body will naturally adjust to match the rhythm. In this case, the steps will be synchronized but likely mirrored because of the opposite arm that each one is swinging.
If a third person is added to the group, that person will have a chance to sync up if he/she has a chance of interacting regularly in the conversation.
Exercise! Take a look at the video and see how many synchronized walks you can spot:
You can notice a good example around 1:50 the two girls walking in sync, and when they disengage because of the external distraction they start desyncing at 1:58.
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All the best
References
Ari Z Zivotofsky and Jeffrey M Hausdorff. (2007). The sensory feedback mechanisms enabling couples to walk synchronously: An initial investigation.
Kleomenis Katevas, Hamed Haddadi, Laurissa Tokarchuk. Walking in Sync: Two is Company, Three’s a Crowd.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirroring_(psychology)
Pictures:
Wright brothers by Photoprint copyrighted by Cole & Co. - Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9571071
Row Four Man Woman People Walking Together :
https://www.maxpixel.net/Row-Four-Man-Woman-People-Walking-Together-3755342