School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
School of Psychological Sciences and Performance and Expertise Research Centre, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
Sci Rep. 2024 Jun 21;14(1):14288. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-65139-5.
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.
人际协调是成功社交互动的关键决定因素，但当人们出现与社交焦虑或自闭症相关的症状时，这种协调可能会受到干扰。有效的协调取决于个体将注意力集中在互动伙伴身上。然而，人们对伙伴自身注意力行为的影响知之甚少。由于他人的注视对患有社交焦虑或自闭症的人来说更加显著，解决这一差距可以深入了解这些障碍的症状如何影响协调。我们使用一种新颖的虚拟现实任务来研究伴侣的注视（即直接注视与转移注视）是否会影响人际协调的出现。结果表明：（i）在转移（相对于直接）注视条件下，自发性协调减少；（ii）自发性协调与社交焦虑症状呈正相关，但仅在伴侣转移注视时才如此。这后一个发现与现有文献形成对比，表明社会背景在塑造精神病理学症状与人际协调之间的关系方面具有重要作用。
