# New research finds a surprising downside to bodily synchrony between strangers

Source: [PsyPost – Psychology News](https://www.psypost.org/new-research-finds-a-surprising-downside-to-bodily-synchrony-between-strangers/) · 2026-11-15 · Mind
Page: https://themorning.science/story/new-research-finds-a-surprising-downside-to-bodily-synchrony-between-strangers-f3c3204633ebf5c8
Kind: research · Impact: low

## In brief

- A new study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B reports that bodily synchrony between strangers can sometimes be linked to less cooperation.
- The finding runs against the widely held assumption that physical synchrony encourages generosity and cooperation.
- The source excerpt describes pairs of strangers but does not give further methodological details.

## Why it matters

It challenges a common assumption in social psychology that interpersonal synchrony reliably promotes prosocial behaviour, which matters for researchers who use synchrony as a route to social bonding.

## Coverage

- [New research finds a surprising downside to bodily synchrony between strangers](https://www.psypost.org/new-research-finds-a-surprising-downside-to-bodily-synchrony-between-strangers/) — PsyPost – Psychology News, 2026-11-15

Tags: social psychology, synchrony, cooperation, behavioral science, prosocial behavior

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Brief generated by AI (claude-haiku-5-5) from the reporting listed under Coverage. Headlines belong to their publishers. The Morning Science – https://themorning.science