Stage 2: Visual information and communication context as modulators of interpersonal coordination in face-to-face and videoconference-based interactions

Abstract

Interpersonal coordination of body movement—or similarity in patterning and timing of body movement between interaction partners—is well documented in face-to-face (FTF) conversation. Here, we investigated the degree to which interpersonal coordination is impacted by the amount of visual information available and the type of interaction conversation partners are having. To do so within a naturalistic context, we took advantage of the increased familiarity with videoconferencing (VC) platforms and with limited visual information in FTF conversation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Pairs of participants communicated in one of three ways: FTF in a laboratory setting while socially distanced and wearing face masks; VC in a laboratory setting with a view of one another's full movements; or VC in a remote setting with a view of one another's face and shoulders. Each pair held three conversations: affiliative, argumentative, and cooperative task-based. We quantified interpersonal coordination as the relationship between the two participants' overall body movement using nonlinear time series analyses. Coordination changed as a function of the contextual constraints, and these constraints interacted with coordination patterns to affect subjective conversation outcomes. Importantly, we found patterns of results that were distinct from previous research; we hypothesize that these differences may be due to changes in the broader social context from COVID-19. Taken together, our results are consistent with a dynamical systems view of social phenomena, with interpersonal coordination emerging from the interaction between components, constraints, and history of the system.

Keywords

• Interpersonal coordination
• Videoconferencing
• Conversation
• Dynamical systems
• Context-sensitivity