Partner gaze shapes the relationship between symptoms of psychopathology and interpersonal coordination.

Interpersonal coordination is a key determinant of successful social interaction but can be disrupted when people experience symptoms related to social anxiety or autism. Effective coordination rests on individuals directing their attention towards interaction partners. Yet little is known about the impact of the attentional behaviours of the partner themselves. As the gaze of others has heightened salience for those experiencing social anxiety or autism, addressing this gap can provide insight into how symptoms of these disorders impact coordination. Using a novel virtual reality task, we investigated whether partner gaze (i.e., direct vs. averted) influenced the emergence of interpersonal coordination. Results revealed: (i) spontaneous coordination was diminished in the averted (cf. direct) gaze condition; (ii) spontaneous coordination was positively related to symptoms of social anxiety, but only when partner gaze was averted. This latter finding contrasts the extant literature and points to the importance of social context in shaping the relationship between symptoms of psychopathology and interpersonal coordination.

Examining the relationship between subclinical levels of social anxiety and the rubber hand illusion.

An embodied sense of self allows individuals to acquire moment-to-moment insight regarding the relationship between themselves and their environment. Fundamental to this experience is information regarding body ownership and self-location, which can inform both intrapersonal and interpersonal functioning. Although it is well documented that variation in mental health symptoms can impact the accuracy of bodily self-perception, little research has, to date, explored the influence of social anxiety on the embodied self. To address this issue, here we propose to examine the impact of social anxiety on the rubber hand illusion (RHI), a procedure which can distort perceptions of body location and ownership. Related literature points to competing predictions relative to how symptoms of social anxiety potentially impact susceptibility to the RHI. In the current manuscript we present the results of a pilot study indicating a positive relationship between the strength of the RHI and social anxiety, and detail a proposed registered report that seeks to replicate and extend this experiment.

Seeing synchrony: A replication of the effects of task-irrelevant social information on perceptions of interpersonal coordination.

The display of synchronous behaviour can be both an engaging spectacle and a source of important social information. When understood as a dynamical system, interpersonal synchrony has specific kinematic qualities that have been shown to shape social perceptions. Little research, however, has examined the converse relationship - are perceptions of the kinematics of interpersonal synchrony influenced by socially relevant, but task-irrelevant, information? To provide further insight to this question we conducted a pre-registered replication of Lumsden, Miles, and Macrae (2012). Participants (n = 191) rated the level of coordination present in dyads made up of individuals with either similar or dissimilar skin tones. Faithful to the original study, the results indicated that perceivers were sensitive to differing levels of interpersonal coordination, and judged dissimilar dyads to be less coordinated than dyads with a similar skin tone despite actual coordination levels being objectively equivalent. Extending Lumsden et al., the results also revealed a negative relationship between subclinical variation in social anxiety and the degree of perceived coordination. This work is discussed with respect to the perceptual and social factors that underlie judgements of interpersonal coordination.

Sensitivity to posed and genuine displays of happiness and sadness: a fMRI study.

The ability to distinguish posed from genuine facial displays of emotion and to act accordingly is a fundamental social skill. To investigate the neural correlates underpinning this sensitivity, we compared changes in brain activity associated with judging posed and genuine facial displays of happiness and sadness using fMRI. Photographs of displays were presented to 7 right-handed females who judged whether the person was feeling the target emotion and made yes/no responses. Results showed activity increases during the observation of genuine compared to posed happy displays in the left medial superior frontal gyrus (BA 9) and the middle cingulate cortex bilaterally (BAs 24 and 31). The same comparison for sad displays showed increased activity in the left medial superior frontal gyrus (BA 8), and in the right middle and triangular inferior frontal gyri (both BA 46). Participants who exhibited higher sensitivity to sad displays showed larger activity difference in the left medial superior frontal gyrus (BA 8). The present study provides evidence of differential neural activity when judging posed versus genuine facial displays of emotions. Further research is required to elucidate how this might impact social affective neuroscience and in what ways genuine facial displays can enhance our understanding of emotion perception.