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Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: Interpersonal Relations and

Group Processes
Psychosocial Effects of Perceived Emotional Synchrony in Collective Gatherings
--Manuscript Draft-Manuscript Number:

PSP-I-2014-0075R1

Full Title:

Psychosocial Effects of Perceived Emotional Synchrony in Collective Gatherings

Abstract:

In a classic theory, Durkheim's (1912) predicted that due to the social sharing of
emotion they generate, collective gatherings bring participants to a stage of collective
effervescence in which they experience a sense of union with others and a feeling of
empowerment accompanied by positive affect. This would lead them to leave the
collective situation with a renewed sense of confidence in life and in social institutions.
A century after Durkheim's predictions of these effects had remained untested as a
whole. This article reports four studies, two correlational, one semi-longitudinal and one
experimental, assessing the positive effects of participation in either positively (folkloric
marches) or negatively (protest demonstrations) valenced collective gatherings.
Results confirmed that collective gatherings consistently strengthened social
identification and social integration, enhanced personal and collective self-esteem and
efficacy, positive affect, as well as positive social beliefs among participants. In line
with a central tenet of the theory, emotional communion or perceived emotional
synchrony with others mediated these effects. Higher perceived emotional synchrony
was associated with stronger emotional reactions, stronger social support and higher
endorsement of social beliefs and values. Participation in symbolic collective
gatherings also reinforced fusion of identity particularly when perceived emotional
synchrony was high. The respective contribution of perceived emotional synchrony and
flow, or optimal experience, was also assessed. Whereas perceived emotional
synchrony emerged as strongly related to the various social outcomes, flow was
observed to be related first and foremost to positive affect and thus to encompass
mainly positive individual affective effects.

Article Type:

Article

Keywords:

collective gatherings; emotional communion; perceived synchrony with others;


emotional contagion; fusion of identity

Corresponding Author:

Anna Wlodarczyk
University of the Basque Country
San Sebastin, SPAIN

Corresponding Author E-Mail:

anna.wlodarczyk@ehu.es;annawl@hotmail.com

Corresponding Author Secondary


Information:
Corresponding Author's Institution:

University of the Basque Country

Other Authors:

Daro Pez, Full professor


Bernard Rim, Full professor
Nekane Basabe, Full professor
Larraitz Zumeta

Author Comments:

Dear Dr Leach,
Please find enclosed our manuscript previously submitted under the reference PSP-I2014-0075, and which has now been revised as you kindly suggested in your e-mail
dated June 6th, 2014.
The manuscript is now entitled "Psychosocial effects of Perceived Emotional
Synchrony in Collective Gatherings"
We would like to thank you and the three reviewers for the interest expressed about
our previous manuscript and for the generous comments and suggestions you all
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made.
In the document attached with this e mail, for the sake of readability, we reproduce in
blue font and italics all the comments by you and the reviewers, and we address in
regular font each of the issues raised. In addition we use red font for quotations of our
text.
As you will note, we agreed with virtually all the comments raised by the reviewers, and
we have incorporated their suggestions in the new manuscript.
Sincerely,
Dario Paez, Bernard Rim, Nekane Basabe, Anna Wlodarczyk and Larraitz Zumeta
Corresponding Author's Secondary
Institution:
First Author:

Daro Pez, Full professor

Order of Authors Secondary Information:


Manuscript Region of Origin:

SPAIN

Suggested Reviewers:

Stephen David Reicher


University of St Andrews
sdr@st-andrews.ac.uk
Expert in the area of collective emotions and collective processes
James Pennebaker
University of Texas
Pennebaker@mail.utexas.edu
Expert in the field of emotions and expression
Barbara Fredrickson
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
blf@unc.edu
Expert in the field of positive emotions.
William B. Swann
University of Texas at Austin
Swann@utexas.edu
Expert in the investigation of emotional fusion, a central concept in our submitted
article.

Opposed Reviewers:
Order of Authors:

Daro Pez, Full professor


Bernard Rim, Full professor
Nekane Basabe, Full professor
Anna Wlodarczyk
Larraitz Zumeta

Manuscript Classifications:

Emotion; Group Processes; Interpersonal Processes; Social Identity

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Title page with All Author Information

Running head: PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE


GATHERINGS

Psychosocial Effects of Perceived Emotional Synchrony in Collective Gatherings

Dario Pez1, Bernard Rim2, Nekane Basabe3, Anna Wlodarczyk4 & Larraitz Zumeta5

Key words: collective gatherings; affect; emotional communion; perceived synchrony


with others; emotional contagion; fusion of identity

Department of Social Psychology and Methodology of Behaviour Sciences

University of the Basque Country


Avenida de Tolosa 70, 20018 San Sebastin, Spain
Telephone: +34943015678.
Fax: +34943015670.
E-mail: dario.paez@ehu.es

Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences

University of Louvain
Place Cardinal Mercier, 10. 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Telephone: +32-(0)10-474036
Fax: +32-(0)10-474836
E-mail: bernard.rime@uclouvain.be

Department of Social Psychology and Methodology of Behaviour Sciences

Running head: PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE


GATHERINGS
University of the Basque Country
Paseo de la Universidad 7, 01006 Vitoria, Spain
Telephone: +34 945 013051
Fax: +34943015670
E-mail: nekane.basabe@ehu.es

Department of Social Psychology and Methodology of Behaviour Sciences

University of the Basque Country


Avenida de Tolosa 70, 20018 San Sebastin, Spain
Telephone: +34943015738
Fax: +34943015670
E-mail: anna.wlodarczyk@ehu.es

Department of Social Psychology and Methodology of Behaviour Sciences

University of the Basque Country


Avenida de Tolosa 70, 20018 San Sebastin, Spain
Telephone: +34943018532
Fax: +34943015670
E-mail: larraitznerea.zumeta@ehu.es

Running head: PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE


GATHERINGS
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation [PSI201126315]; the University of the Basque Country [grant number IT-666-13 and UFI 11/04];
and Research Personnel Education and Training Program scholarship granted by the
Basque Government to Anna Wlodarczyk (BFI-2011-17) and Larraitz Zumeta
(PRE_2013_1_738).
We would like to thank Marie-Lyne Jaminet for her role in collecting data and for her
helpful research assistance on Study 1.

Masked Manuscript without Author Information

Running head: PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE


GATHERINGS

Psychosocial Effects of Perceived Emotional Synchrony in Collective Gatherings

Abstract
In a classic theory, Durkheim's (1912) predicted that due to the social sharing of
emotion they generate, collective gatherings bring participants to a stage of collective
effervescence in which they experience a sense of union with others and a feeling of
empowerment accompanied by positive affect. This would lead them to leave the
collective situation with a renewed sense of confidence in life and in social institutions.
A century after Durkheim's predictions of these effects had remained untested as a
whole. This article reports four studies, two correlational, one semi-longitudinal and one
experimental, assessing the positive effects of participation in either positively (folkloric
marches) or negatively (protest demonstrations) valenced collective gatherings. Results
confirmed that collective gatherings consistently strengthened social identification and
social integration, enhanced personal and collective self-esteem and efficacy, positive
affect, as well as positive social beliefs among participants. In line with a central tenet
of the theory, emotional communion or perceived emotional synchrony with others
mediated these effects. Higher perceived emotional synchrony was associated with
stronger emotional reactions, stronger social support and higher endorsement of social
beliefs and values. Participation in symbolic collective gatherings also reinforced fusion
of identity particularly when perceived emotional synchrony was high. The respective
contribution of perceived emotional synchrony and flow, or optimal experience, was
also assessed. Whereas perceived emotional synchrony emerged as strongly related to

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 2


the various social outcomes, flow was observed to be related first and foremost to
positive affect and thus to encompass mainly positive individual affective effects.

Keywords: collective gatherings, affect, emotional communion, perceived


synchrony with others, emotional contagion, fusion of identity

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 3


Psychosocial Effects of Perceived Emotional Synchrony in Collective Gatherings
After a long period of neglect, collective processes and collective emotions are
now currently the object of a major revival in psychology and the social sciences in
general (e.g., Collins, 2004; Goodwin, Jasper, & Polletta, 2000; von Scheve & Ismer,
2013; von Scheve & Salmela, 2014). Collective identity (Haslam, Jetten, Postmes, &
Haslam, 2009), collective optimal experiences (Walker, 2010) and participation in
collective emotional gatherings (Collins, 2004) and in social movements (Drury &
Reicher, 2009) have recently been proposed as entailing major positive effects on social
cohesion, social functioning and individual well-being.
Durkheim's (1912) Model of Collective Processes
Durkheim (1912) stressed that social rituals, festivals and worship celebrations
periodically gathering individuals together fulfill the function of recreating the social
group and reviving shared beliefs. Such events involve shouting, singing, music,
movement and dancing, as well as the use of stimulants. For Durkheim, the core aspect
in these social situations lies in the shared emotions that are felt and expressed, in the
reciprocal emotional stimulation that follows and in the collective emotional
effervescence that results. Individuals are transported out of themselves as their
common feelings and shared beliefs take over. Participants thus experience both a sense
of union with others and a feeling of empowerment accompanied by positive affect.
They thus leave the collective situation with a renewed sense of confidence in life and
in social institutions.
Empirical studies confirmed that participation in collective emotional gatherings
such as mourning ceremonies or protest demonstrations yields psychosocial outcomes
in line with Durkheim's (1912) views. They indeed showed that participation: (a)
enhances social identification (i.e., social identity, Neville & Reicher, 2011; ethnic

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 4


identification, Gasparre, Bosco, & Bellelli, 2010; fusion of identity with others, Swan,
Jetten, Gmez, Whitehouse, & Bastian, 2012), which implied a qualitative change in
self-concept from personal to social, switching the self to a collective level, as posited
by the Self-categorization perspective; (b) increases social cohesion and social
integration (Weiss & Richards, 1997; perceived social support, Pez, Basabe, Ubillos,
& Gonzalez , 2007; positive intergroup stereotypes and positive emotional climate,
Kanyangara, Rim, Philippot, & Yzerbyt, 2007; solidarity, Hawdon & Ryan, 2011); (c)
reinforces positive emotions and affect (Fischer et al., 2014; Neville & Reicher, 2011;
Pez, Basabe, Ubillos, & Gonzalez, 2007; Pez, Javaloy, Wlodarczyk, Espelt, & Rim,
2013); (d) enhances empowerment or reinforces self-concept including both self esttem
and self efficacy (Drury & Reicher, 2005; personal self-esteem, Pez et al., 2007;
collective self-esteem, Beristain, Pez, & Gonzlez, 2000; Rim, Kanyangara, Yzerbyt,
& Pez, 2011); and (e) aids endorsement of the group's beliefs and values (Collins,
2004; Fischer et al., 2014; Pez et al., 2007). In sum, although spread across studies,
empirical support does exist for the effects of collective gatherings described by
Durkheim (1912). Thus, even if collective events can entail negative effects and costs
(e.g., enhancing negative emotions, hatred, negative stereotypes of out-group members),
successful collective emotional gatherings can simultaneously reinforce positive affect,
self-esteem and well-being (Tewari, Khan, Hopkins, Srinivasan, & Reicher, 2012).
Movement Synchronization and Mimicry
Most effects similar to those described by Durkheim for collective emotional
gatherings are perplexingly also observed among individuals who synchronize their
movements. In a review of synchronized movements in the history of humankind,
McNeill (1995) identified effects that can be grouped into four classes: (a) openness to
the world (altered consciousness, inflation of the self, blurring of self-awareness, loss of

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 5


self-boundaries); (b) openness to others (feelings of being together, of being one with
others, "esprit de corps"); (c) positive affect (relaxation, calming, well-being); and (d)
empowerment (confidence, energy, strength, satisfaction with the world in general).
Obviously, these effects largely overlapped with those cited by Durkheim (1912). They
were recently supported by studies manipulating movement synchronization (e.g., Hove
& Risen, 2009; Kirschner & Tomasello, 2009; Macrae, Duffy, Miles, & Lawrence,
2008; Miles, Nind, Henderson, & Macrae, 2010; Paladino, Mazzurega, Pavani, &
Schubert, 2010, Vacharkulksemsuk & Fredrickson, 2012; Valdesolo & DeSteno, 2011;
Valdesolo, Ouyang, & DeSteno, 2010; Wiltermuth & Heath, 2009). Experimental
inductions of synchrony have included marching in step around the campus in groups of
three, listening to music while performing an action in synchrony, or swinging together
rhythmically in rocking chairs. Observed effects included openness to others, feelings of
self-broadening, feelings of similarity and unity, overlap between self and other,
enhanced prosocial behaviors, and enhanced positive affect. Similar effects have also
been documented in the study of imitation, a specific form of movement
synchronization. After reviewing studies examining someone being mimicked
unknowingly, Chartrand and Lakin (2013) found being mimicked entailed: (a) positive
affect, and (b) openness to others (as indexed through attraction, empathy, helping
behavior, perception of interdependence, choice of physical closeness, confidence in
each other, progress of negotiations, or ability to decode emotions). Imitation was also
found to increase pro-social behavior (van Baaren, Holland, Kawakami, & van
Knippenberg, 2004; van Baaren, Holland, Steenaert, & van Knippenberg, 2003). Thus,
imitation demonstrated effects quite comparable to both those of movement
synchronization and collective emotional gatherings.
The Central Role of Shared Emotions

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 6


In sum, synchronized behaviors such as marching, singing and in general doing
things together have been demonstrated to enhance self-categorization as a member of a
group, sense of union with others, positive affect and pro-social behavior. Durkheim
(1912) considered such effects to be the result of collective emotional effervescence, an
amplified, excited reaction made possible when a group of people experience something
emotional together. When expressed collectively, human feelings intensifies. Both
sadness and joy are amplified by echoing from consciousness to consciousness:
Everyone drives everyone. In Durkheim's view, the specific nature of the pooled
feelings does not matter. They can range from extreme depression to extreme elation,
painful irritation, or ecstatic enthusiasm. What is essential is that individuals are
gathered together, that common feelings are felt and that these feelings are expressed in
common acts. Group members need to feel in communion, to feel united in the same
mind and in the same action. Regardless of the specific nature of the feelings and acts
involved, the basic process of emotional synchrony always leads to the same positive
effects described above.
However, data from the study of synchronized movements suggested that the
same effects occurred even when the coordinated action was meaningless and devoid of
affect (Valdesolo et al., 2010). Behavioral synchrony devoid of symbolic load (e.g., US
citizens singing the Canadian national anthem) provoked an increase in prosocial
behavior and social identification (Wiltermuth & Heath, 2009). Similar effects were
also found from minimal coordinated activity, or activity that did not change affect.
Thus, when soldiers march in step, it is unlikely that they are experiencing strong
emotions, yet effects analogous to those described so far resulted from their
synchronized action (McNeill, 1995).

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 7


How is it that movement synchronization and emotional effervescence entail
similar social and individual effects? We viewed the emotional effervescence that
develops in a collective gathering as a multifaceted process of social synchronization.
When a common emotional event is enacted collectively, participants converge together
in special spaces and at particular times. They share concerns, intentions and goals and
they mutually reinforce them as the event develops. They share cognitive and emotional
responses to the displayed group symbols (e.g., flags, emblems, leaders, icons). They
focus their attention on a single target podium, stage, altar, speaker, leader, priest, etc.
They display group mimesis or coordinated collective behaviors (shared gestures,
shared movements, moving and marching together), thus enacting behavioral
synchrony. Their synchronized behaviors are accompanied by coordinated expressive
manifestations (singing together, yelling, saying particular words or sentences, playing
music, dancing, etc.) in such a way that every participant's mind, voice and body
becomes attuned to the state shared in the group. Finally and most importantly, all six
preceding elements stimulate participants' emotional arousal in such a way that they will
experience and enact similar emotional states; therein probably lies the strongest source
of the social and individual effects of participation in collective gatherings. Due to the
ease with which emotions are mirrored, shared and spread among people who are copresent (Gallese, 2001; Hatfield, Cacioppo, & Rapson, 1993; Iacoboni, 2009; Rim,
2007), a situation of emotional synchrony develops, thus entailing perceptions of
similarity and unity: we feel the same, we are the same, we are one, by this token
massively reinforcing group identification (Collins, 2004, Pez et al., 2013; Rossano,
2012; von Scheve & Ismer, 2013). If our view is correct, simple movement synchrony
without emotion might be sufficient to produce the described psychosocial effects, as
McNeill (1995) and more recent studies have suggested. But the emotional

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 8


effervescence and perceived emotional synchrony occurring in collective gatherings
would play a central explanatory role in magnifying the effects of such social events.
Though scarce, some data supported the role played by shared emotions in
effects such as those posited by Durkheim. Shared emotion was recently shown to act as
an antecedent of collective identity (Livingstone, Spears, Manstead, Bruder, &
Shepherd, 2011). A few studies have directly submitted the concept of collective
effervescence and perceived emotional synchrony to empirical investigation. For
instance, Xygalatas, Konvalinka, Bulbulia, and Roepstorff (2011) examined the
physiological effects of a highly arousing Spanish fire-walking ritual. They found
shared patterns in heart-rate dynamics between participants and spectators who had
previously reported identifying with firewalkers. This confirmed that in a ritual,
identification between actors and spectators elicits shared emotional states. Affect
transmitted by automatic imitation and by feedback from mimicked nonverbal behavior
was also supported (Lakin, Jefferis, Cheng, & Chartrand, 2003). Perceiving someone's
facial expression in a social interaction contributed to actually feeling the emotion
associated with that expression (Stel, van Baaren, & Vonk, 2008; Stel & Vonk, 2010).
Hatfield and colleagues (1993) emphasized that in addition to facial expressions, haptic,
vocal and verbal information from others also evokes emotional contagion. Studies on
the social sharing of emotion (e.g., Rim, 2009) and on capitalization of positive
emotion (e.g., Gable & Reis, 2010) found that verbal interaction increases emotionality
and induces emotional convergence among interaction partners, partly because it elicits
a common appraisal of events (von Scheve & Ismer, 2013). Finally, participation in
collective gatherings stimulates social sharing of emotion, which in turn reinforces
participants' personal and collective emotions (Rim, 2007; Rim, Pez, Basabe, &
Martinez, 2010). However, these promising studies did not incorporate self-report

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 9


measures of collective emotional effervescence, and used a limited number of
outcomes.
Collective Gatherings and Shared Flow
An interesting link exists between Durkheim's concept and the notion of flow, or
optimal experience proposed by Csikszentmihlyi (1990). This author indeed viewed
collective gatherings or rituals as affordances that a society offers to its members in
order to allow them to meet optimal experiences under socially desirable forms (p.
432). Interviews with athletes revealed that in team sports, unison movements and
shared focus of attention are critical to the experience of flow (Schiepe-Tiska &
Engerser, 2011). Walker (2010) demonstrated that experiencing flow in a social
situation elicits higher feelings of joy than did solitary flow. In addition, in line with the
ideas developed above, Walker argued that experiences of collective flow involve both
a loss of consciousness of the self and a perception of emotional synchrony with the
group and the audience. Thus, collective optimal experiences, collective effervescence
and movement synchronization overlap. Shared optimal experience could be conceived
of as a facet or component of participants' experience in collective gatherings. However,
Cskszentmihlyi (1990) posited that affect and emotions were not important in flow,
and that flow addressed essentially an optimally experienced activity. This opened up a
specific additional question to be addressed in empirical studies: which of these two
processes offers the best account of the positive effects of participation in a collective
event: Cskszentmihlyi's flow and the experience of optimal performance, or
Durkheim's emotional effervescence and the perception of emotional synchrony?
Hypotheses
The studies reported below set out to test Durkheim's model of positive effects
of participation in collective emotional gatherings. In our view, the requirements to

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 10


adequately test this model were fourfold. First, as shown earlier, empirical support
exists for each of the various predicted effects, but the evidence was scattered across a
multitude of studies. Research should examine whether they happen together. Second,
Durkheim was explicit that regardless of the positive or negative valence of the
collective event, participants would manifest the predicted positive effects. Studies
should assess the predicted effects in both positively and negatively valenced collective
gatherings. Third, Durkheim considered collective emotions to play a critical role. We
showed that this view is now controversial. Up to now, this essential aspect of the
model remained unassessed with regard to the five effects it predicts. Fourth, in line
with the last part of our introduction, Durkheim's emotional effervescence and
Cskszentmihlyi's non-emotional flow should be disentangled as ways of accounting
for the effects of participation in collective gatherings.
The four studies reported here intended to fulfill these various requirements (see
Figure 1 for an overview). For each of them, participants in collective events were
assessed for several of the various effects described by Durkheim, i.e., enhancement of
collective identity and social integration, positive affect, self-esteem, shared beliefs and
values. Thus, first, we hypothesized participation in a collective gathering would
strengthen participants' social identification and integration, positive affect,
empowerment or self-esteem, and endorsement of the group's values and beliefs. This
hypothesis was tested in Studies 1, 3 and 4 comparing participants and non-participants,
and in Study 2 comparing high versus low level of participation. Secondly, we
hypothesized the various effects would be manifest in both positively and negatively
valenced collective gatherings. Thus, our first two studies examined participants in
positively valenced traditional folkloric marches and our next two ones investigated
participants in negatively valenced protest demonstrations. In a third hypothesis in line

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 11


with a central tenet of Durkheim's theory, we predicted that as more participants
experienced emotional synchrony in the collective situation, the various predicted
effects would be stronger. This third hypothesis was all the more necessary in view of
the fact that recently available observations might challenge the critical role assigned by
Durkheim to shared emotions. This hypothesis was tested both as a direct effect of
perceived emotional synchrony in all outcomes and as a mediational effect between
participation and psychosocial effects in Studies 2, 3 and 4.
--------------------------------------Insert Figure 1 about here
--------------------------------------Overview of Studies
Study 1 compared participants in a collective gathering with a matched sample
of non-participants. The variables examined were social integration, positive affect,
empowerment and social beliefs. This study also explored the association between
perceived emotional synchrony and the previous variables. In order to overcome the
limitations of the cross-sectional design of this first study, Study 2 was conducted
following a quasi-longitudinal design in which social integration, positive affect,
empowerment and social beliefs were measured before and after the collective event. In
this study, participants' level of involvement was measured and a measure of fusion of
identity with the group was added in order to assess specific social identification. This
measure was applied three times, i.e., before, during and after the event. This allowed us
to test the change of these two variables during the collective gathering and thus to
verify whether a climax indexing collective effervescence occurred. In this second study
a measure of shared flow and a measure of perceive synchrony were also introduced
during the collective activity. This second study measured all five variables (fusion of

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 12


identity, social integration, positive affect and well-being, empowerment, and social
beliefs) hypothesized to be affected by collective gatherings and examined the relative
importance of shared flow and emotional synchrony as measured during the activity.
The first two studies were conducted on folkloric marches, i.e., collective events with
only a low level of ideological content. In contrast, the next two addressed protest
demonstrations, in which high levels of ideological content were involved. In such
contexts, assessing effects of participation upon endorsement of social beliefs and
values was much more relevant. Whereas the design of Study 2 lacked a control group,
Study 3 did include one. Participants in a sociopolitical demonstration related to social
issues and social values were compared with participants in collective gatherings where
no important issues were involved. Study 4 was designed with the purpose of
overcoming the limitations of the previous one by involving an experimental induction
of participation in a demonstration and by including a randomized control group. This
study examined both direct effects of participation in collective gathering and the
mediational role of perceived emotional synchrony and shared flow on fusion of
identity and collective self-esteem.
Effects of participation in collective events were assessed as follows:
- social identification was evaluated in Studies 2 and 4 using a measure of fusion of
identity with the specific in-group;
- social integration was addressed in Studies 1 and 2 with a scale assessing the feeling
of belonging and in Study 3 with a scale assessing perceived social support;
- positive affect was evaluated with items of positive and negative affect in Study 1, a
positivity scale in Study 2, and items assessing hope and anger in Study 3;
- empowerment was evaluated using a self-esteem scale in Study 1, a scale of collective
efficacy in Study 2, and a collective self-esteem scale in Study 4; and

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 13


- endorsement of social beliefs was measured in Studies 1 and 2 using a scale assessing
basic beliefs about the world and society and a scale assessing beliefs in a just world,
and in Study 3 using a scale assessing endorsement of the group's values.
Study 1 Pseudo-Military Folkloric Marches in Belgium
This study focused on an important folk tradition that has continued since the
Middle Ages in over 80 Belgian cities. Every year, during festivities lasting several
days, religious processions accompanied by large groups of walkers move through the
countryside surrounding the town. Walkers include several hundred local inhabitants
wearing historical military uniforms, bearing old weapons and marching in synchrony
like military units. They train all year, and at the time of the festivities they escort
religious processions over long distances. For participants, such rituals represent
symbolic moments of high emotional impact. In line with Durkheim's model, compared
to control non-walkers from the same region, we expected walkers to manifest higher
levels of social integration, positive affect and empowerment, as well as stronger social
beliefs after their participation. Additionally, walkers who reported stronger feelings of
emotional synchrony during the event were expected to display these effects to a higher
degree.
Method
Participants. At a rehearsal meeting held some days before the annual
celebration, walkers from the same town (N = 350, were invited to participate in the
study by filling out Internet questionnaires immediately after the celebration. Volunteers
provided their mailing address and received the link to the study questionnaire via email
on the day following the celebration. This link was active for two days. A total of 93
walkers (18 females) validly completed all the study forms within the time allotted.
Their mean age was 32.6 years (SD = 12.9). With the exception of the perceived

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 14


emotional synchrony scale, the same measures were given at the same time to a large
group of non-walker respondents belonging to the same semi-rural and lower-middle
social class as the walkers, but not involved with the celebration. They were contacted
via available lists of email addresses and invited to take part in a university study being
carried out in their region. A total of 324 non-walker participants correctly completed
the questionnaire. A control group of 93 respondents paired for age and sex (18 females,
mean age = 34.1 years; SD = 13.5) with walkers was then extracted from this pool.
Measurements. In this study, four of the five predicted effects of participation
in collective gatherings were assessed: (a) social integration using a scale of feelings of
belonging, (b) positive emotions using a scale of positive affect, (c) empowerment using
a scale of self-esteem, and (d) social beliefs using a scale assessing both basic beliefs
about the world and society, and beliefs in a just world. In addition, the extent to which
participants had experienced collective effervescence was evaluated by a scale of
"perceived emotional synchrony" developed for the purposes of the present study.
Social integration. The 10-item scale developed and validated in French by
Richer and Vallerand (1998) (ESAS, Echelle du Sentiment d'Appartenance Sociale)
assessed people's feelings of belonging. It began with the sentence In my relations with
people in general, I feel, followed by 10 adjectives (e.g., supported, united,
close to), each rated on a 7-point scale anchored with "not at all" and "very much."
Cronbach's computed on the 93 walkers and 93 control respondents yielded a value of
.93.
Positive affect. The French version (Schweitzer & Paulhan, 1990) of the 20-item
"State" part of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) (Spielberger, Gorsuch, &
Lushene, 1970) included 10 adjectives assessing positive affect (e.g., I feel strong,
poised, balanced, thoughtful) and 10 adjectives assessing negative affect (e.g., I

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 15


feel scared, tense, apprehensive, nervous), rated on 4-point scales (not at all,
somewhat, moderately so, very much so). Separate scores were computed for positive
affect (Cronbach's = .93) and for negative affect (Cronbach's = .90).
Empowerment. Participants rated 10 items from the French version (Vallires &
Vallerand, 1990) of Rosenberg's (1965) Self-Esteem Scale on 7-point scales anchored
with strongly disagree and strongly agree (Cronbach's = .85).
Social beliefs. We assessed participants social beliefs using a shorter version of
the World Assumptions Scale (Janoff-Bulman, 1989) and the Belief in a Just World
Scale (Dalbert, Montada, & Schmitt, 1987). The first scale comprised 5 items
measuring beliefs about the benevolence and meaningfulness of the world (e.g., The
world is a good place) and 5 items measuring beliefs in the benevolence of people
(e.g., People are basically kind and helpful) (Cronbach's = .83). The second scale
comprised 5 items based upon Lerner's (1980) just world theory (e.g., On average, the
world is just) (Cronbach's = .77). Responses were made on 7-point scales (1 =
strongly disagree and 7 = strongly agree).
Perceived emotional synchrony. An 18-item scale was developed to assess the
extent to which participants experienced a condition of emotional effervescence (see
Appendix 1); 7-point response scales were utilized (1=Not at all and 7= All of the time).
Cronbach's alpha calculated for the sample of walkers was satisfactory, =. 94. Nonwalkers did not complete this scale.
Results
A MANOVA comparing walkers and non-walkers for the six dependent
variables yielded a highly significant group effect, Wilks' Lambda F (6, 179) = 6.08, p <
.001, p2 = .17. Separate comparisons revealed markedly significant effects for five of
the six variables (see Table 1); the two groups did not differ for negative affect, a

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 16


variable that was, in any case, not relevant to the hypotheses. Walkers scored higher
than non-walkers on social integration (p2 = .07), empowerment (p2 = .06), positive
affect (p2 = .12), beliefs in a benevolent world (p2 = .10) and beliefs in a just world
(p2 = .07). All these effects were in the direction predicted by the first hypothesis, and
all the predictions were supported.
--------------------------------------Insert Table 1 about here
--------------------------------------Of course, the study design did not allow us to rule out a selection effect. It was
possible that walkers already differed from control respondents before their
participation in the annual celebration. It was therefore critical to test the collective
effervescence hypothesis. According to this hypothesis, walkers who experienced
greater emotional synchrony with others were expected to report higher social
integration, higher positive affect, higher empowerment and stronger beliefs in a
benevolent and just world by comparison with walkers who did not experience such a
high degree of emotional synchrony (see Table 2). To test these predictions, correlations
were calculated between perceived emotional synchrony and outcomes. In support of
the prediction, perceived emotional synchrony correlated with social integration, r(93) =
.49, p < .001, with positive affect, r(93) = .17, p .05, with beliefs in a benevolent
world, r(93) = .21, p = .021, and with beliefs in a just world, r(93) = .27, p = .005.
--------------------------------------Insert Table 2 about here
--------------------------------------Discussion

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 17


All the predictions from Durkheim's model were supported by the results of the
present study. Compared to control non-participants, walkers participating in the folk
marches subsequently reported enhanced levels of social integration, empowerment and
positive affect, as well as stronger social beliefs. In addition, our analyses corroborated
that the intensity of the experience of perceived emotional synchrony with others
predicted the observed effects, thus the findings were in line with the hypothesis of a
mediating role of perceived emotional synchrony. Our predictions were thus well
supported by the results of this comparison of participants and non-participants in an
emotionally-involving collective event. Of course, the conclusions that can be drawn
from this study were limited by the absence of random assignment of the study
participants to these two conditions and by the lack of baseline measurements.
Nevertheless, the first study confirmed that participation in marches produced these
various outcomes predicted by Durkheim's (1912) model, and that these outcomes were
stronger when participants experienced higher perceived emotional synchrony with
others.
Study 2 Pseudo-military Folkloric Marches in the Basque Country
This study focused on an important folk tradition that has continued since the
nineteenth century in the city of San Sebastin in the Basque Country (Spain). Every
year, in the Tamborrada, or collective drum marches, processions accompanied by large
groups of drummers invade the streets of the town for a 24 hour-long celebration. The
procession involves several thousand local people who train all year and wear
Napoleon-style military uniforms while parading. They play drums, march in synchrony
imitating military units like the walkers in Study 1, and sing traditional songs in chorus.
For these walkers, as for all the inhabitants of San Sebastin, this celebration involves
symbolic moments of high emotional impact.

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 18


The purpose of the study was to replicate Study 1, this time using longitudinal
observations. Thus, two days before and two days after the Tamborrada, participants
completed questionnaires measuring the positive outcome expected from their
participation, i.e. their social identification, social integration, positive affect,
empowerment, and social beliefs. In addition, on the afternoon following the
Tamborrada, all participants filled out the scale measuring their experience of
emotional synchrony in this folkloric event. In line with Durkheim's emotional
effervescence concept, the hypothesis was that compared to their lower-emotionalsynchrony counterparts, participants in the Tamborrada who experienced higher
emotional synchrony during the celebration would report higher levels of social
integration, of personal well-being and of social beliefs after their participation,
controlling for baseline or pre-event measurements for these dependent measures.
Furthermore, in this study we directly accounted for identity fusion, an important
recent topic addressing feelings of oneness with the group and experience of highly
permeable borders between the personal and the social self. According to Swann et al.
(2012), such porous borders encourage people to channel their personal agency into
group behavior, raising the possibility that the personal and social self will combine
synergistically to motivate pro-group behavior (Swann et al., 2012). These authors
suggested that an important contextual source of identity fusion was found in sharing
bonding experiences with others and by participating in affectively-loaded social rituals.
Our participants thus answered this scale three times before, during and after the
Tamborrada through the pictorial measure used by Swann, Gmez, Seyle, Morales
and Huici, (2009) to assess the experience of fusion of identity. In line with Durkheim's
views about the effects of collective effervescence in the midst of collective behavior,
we expected identity fusion scores would illustrate: (a) a climactic increase during the

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 19


Tamborrada, (b) a relative decrease after the event, and (c) a higher level after the event
compared to before it.
Additionally, the study included a measure of optimal experience or "flow"
(Cskszentmihlyi, 1990). As mentioned in our introduction, Schiepe-Tiska and
Engerser (2011) showed evidence of overlap between shared optimal experience and
perceived emotional synchrony in the context of collective synchronized performance.
Athletes reported flow in team sports as resulting from unison movements, shared focus
of attention, positive team interaction, and feeling part of the group. Furthermore,
experiencing flow in a social context contributed to dissolving the psychological
contours that usually separate individuals. They become fused with the group (Gmez
et al., 2011). Thus, both shared flow and perceived emotional synchrony could account
for the positive outcomes of collective gatherings, including fusion of identity. Our
second study examined the respective associations of flow and of perceived emotional
synchrony with the various outcome measures. This allowed us to specify whether the
variables measuring the positive outcomes of collective gatherings lie in the individual
experience of flow and of absorption in a rewarding and challenging activity, or rather
in the shared collective behavioral and emotional experience.
Method
Participants. Town Hall officials and coordinators of folkloric companies were
contacted in order to recruit volunteers among people who would participate in the
Tamborrada held on January 20th, 2013. A total of 478 participants were initially
recruited and 330 volunteered to complete all three questionnaires (70%). 44.4% were
female, they aged between 18 and 75 (M = 40.26 years, SD = 12.16), and most of them
(82.3%) were residents of San Sebastin. Encrypted personal emails were used to
collect data online at the three different measurement times.

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 20


Measures. In this study, social identification was evaluated using Swann et al.'s
(2009) measure of fusion of identity with the in-group and responses were collected
first, two days before the Tamborrada, next, on the afternoon it took place, and finally
two days after it. Social integration was evaluated by the same feeling of belonging
scale, as in Study 1. Empowerment was addressed with a scale of perceived efficacy of
the group. Social beliefs and perceived emotional synchrony were assessed as in Study
1. Social integration, empowerment and social beliefs measures were collected two days
before and again two days after the Tamborrada. Positive affect was evaluated by both
the Fredrickson (2009) positivity scale and a scale indexing happiness. Shared flow was
evaluated by an adaptation of the Flow State Scale (Jackson & Marsh, 1996). Finally,
participants also rated a single item assessing their level of involvement in the social
event. Flow, positive affect and involvement measures were collected on the afternoon
of the Tamborrada
Fusion of identity. A pictographic measure (Swann et al., 2009) was used to
assess the experience of oneness with the group or fusion of identity with the other
participants. Five pictures showed different degrees of overlap between two circles
representing, respectively, the self and another person (1 = no overlap; 5 = almost
complete overlap). Before, during and after the Tamborrada, participants chose the
diagram that best describes your relationship between you and the other participants in
the event.
Social integration. As in study 1, the 10-item feeling of belonging scale
developed by Richer and Vallerand (1998) assessed participants perception of social
integration (Cronbachs alphas of .96 and .98, respectively, before and after the
Tamborrada).

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 21


Positive-negative emotions. Participants rated the extent to which during the day
of the Tamborrada they felt (0 = not at all to 4 = very much) each of 20 emotions (10
positive, 10 negative) on a scale used by previous research to calculate an emotional
positivity ratio (Fredrickson, 2009). In the present sample, Cronbachs was .86 and
.87, for positive and negative emotions, respectively.
Happiness index. The Pemberton Happiness Index (PHI, Vzquez & Hervs,
2012) contained 11 items rated from 0 = disagree strongly to 10 = agree strongly and
examining general, eudaimonic, hedonic, and social well-being, yielding a single wellbeing index. Cronbachs was.89 and .92 before and after the Tamborrada
respectively.
Collective efficacy. A short, 4-item version was adapted from the CEQSCollective Efficacy Questionnaire for Sports (Martnez, Guilln, & Feltz, 2011),
assessing respondents' perceived efficacy of the group (0 to 10) with which they
performed a sports activity. Reliability coefficients were .91 at the pre-event and .92 at
the post-event evaluation.
Social beliefs. Participants social beliefs were assessed using a shorter version
of the World Assumptions Scale (Janoff-Bulman, 1989) and the Belief in a Just World
Scale (Dalbert et al., 1987), as described in Study 1. Reliability coefficients were .84 at
the pre-event and .85 at the post-event evaluation.
Perceived emotional synchrony. On the afternoon following the Tamborrada,
participants completed the 18-item scale already used in Study 1 (see Appendix 1).
Cronbach's for this sample reached .97.
Shared flow or collective optimal experience. A collective version of the Flow
State Scale (Jackson & Marsh, 1996) was developed with 27 items (1 = not at all; 5 =

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 22


very much) focusing on the group experience by regular use of the first person plural
(e.g., Our abilities matched the high challenge of the situation). Cronbachs was .95.
Level of involvement. Participants answered the question How intense was
your participation in the Tamborrada? using a response scale ranging from 1 (not at
all) to 7 (very much).
Results
Multiple regressions were calculated using pre-event or baseline measurements
as predictors, perceived emotional synchrony and shared flow as mediating variables,
and level of involvement as the independent variable. In order to test the mediational
effects, we used the SPSS macro for bootstrapping indirect effects (Hayes & Preacher,
2013), which provides indirect effect estimates for mediators, standard errors (SEs), and
the confidence intervals (CIs) derived from the bootstrap distribution. Bootstrapped CIs
are superior to standard forms of estimating SEs of indirect effects. An indirect effect is
significant if the CI does not include 0 values.
--------------------------------------Insert Table 3 about here
--------------------------------------Fusion of identity, social integration, affect, collective efficacy and social beliefs
were dependent variables (see Table 3 for means for high- and low-level emotional
synchrony). A general increase was observed from pre-event to post-event
measurements and, as expected, baseline measurements predicted post-test scores. More
importantly, regression and multiple mediational analyses with Hayes and Preachers
(2013) procedures (n boots = 5000) controlling for pre-event scores showed that
perceived emotional synchrony predicted higher values for all the dependent variables
whereas shared flow did so for only one of them. Indeed, high perceived emotional

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 23


synchrony walkers reported stronger feelings of oneness with the group, B = .16, t =
4.43, p <. 001, higher perceived social integration, B =.26, t = 5.33, p< .001, higher
happiness, B = .18, t = 3.47, p < .001, higher collective efficacy and a more positive or
benevolent and just perception of the world, B = .07, t = 2.90, p <. 003. Shared flow
showed a significant predictive coefficient only for collective efficacy, B = .50, t = 4.07,
p < .001 (see also Table 3 for means for high and low emotional synchrony). Perceived
emotional synchrony mediated the effect of level of involvement, reducing the
coefficient of level on outcomes, as well as showing an indirect effect of level on
outcomes through perceived emotional synchrony for feelings of oneness with the group
(B = .06, SE = .02, CI [.03, .10]), for perceived social integration (B = .04, SE = .01, CI
[.01, .07]), for well-being (B = .09, SE = .03, CI [.03, .15]), for collective efficacy (B =
.09, SE = .03, CI [.03, .16]), and for positive or benevolent and just perception of the
world (B = .03, SE = .01, CI [.01, .06]), while the indirect effect through flow was not
significant, with the exception of collective efficacy (B = .14, SE = .05, CI [.06, .24]).
Even though, flow and perceived emotional synchrony correlated strongly (r(319) = .71,
p < .001), and were both linked to fusion of identity, (r(319) = .49, p < .05 and r(319) =
.56, p < .001, respectively), the results of a mediational analysis supported the
hypothesis of a greater importance of emotional synchrony compared to flow.
A repeated-measures ANOVA was also used to assess the hypothesis regarding
fusion of identity scores. The time effect was significant for these scores. Indeed, the
quadratic component was significant, F(1, 134) = 46.14, p < .001, p2 = .12, showing
that the feeling of oneness with the group was climactically higher during the folkloric
march. In addition, as predicted, although the identity fusion scores decreased after the
event, they remained higher than they had been before it. Also, though the interaction of
the quadratic time effect of high versus low emotional fusion was only marginally

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 24


significant, F(1, 134) = 2.84, p < .09, p2 = .009, Figure 2 shows that fusion of identity
scores remained at a high level after the folkloric march, particularly when emotional
fusion was high.
--------------------------------------Insert Figure 2 about here
--------------------------------------Discussion
This longitudinal study confirmed the hypothesis that participation in a
collective emotional gathering associated with high emotional synchrony enhanced
participants' feelings of group belonging and social integration, increased their positive
affect as measured by a happiness scale as well as their collective efficacy, and
reinforced their positive social representations or shared social beliefs. More
importantly, the results confirmed that collective gatherings enhanced identity fusion, or
merging of the personal and collective self. Such effects were particularly strong during
the climactic enacting of the collective celebration, confirming that, as proposed by
Durkheim, collective effervescence yields effects of reinforcement of social identity.
However, these effects were also found to remain higher after the event than they were
before it.
The results of this study also supported our prediction regarding the interrelationships between identity fusion as assessed by the fusion of identity scale,
perceived emotional synchrony with others, and experience of flow or optimal
experience in the context of performance involving group synchronization. All three
variables were linked, with especially marked ties between the latter two. In addition, all
the various positive effects hypothesized by Durkheim's model for participation in a
collective emotional gathering were specifically found in relation to the collective

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 25


experience of synchronization. Indeed, when flow was the independent variable, a
significant effect emerged for positive affect alone.
Furthermore, even though effects on social beliefs were found in this study as in
Study 1, both studies examined positively valenced and strictly entertaining events,
thus being devoid of references to any symbolically-loaded ideology. The next study
investigated negatively valenced collective gatherings involving major social and
symbolic issues. Participants in such events were compared to control participants who
had been involved in collective gatherings with low symbolic and social content.
Study 3 Real-Life Protest Demonstrations
This study set out to examine the predictions of Durkheim's (1912) model in the
framework of protest demonstrations held within the context of a major social
movement. Such collective gatherings usually involve both positively and negatively
valenced components (Klandermans, 1997; Thomas, McGarty, & Mavor, 2009). On the
positive side, protest participants reframe a social issue as a solvable problem and they
share feelings of collective efficacy and hopes for social change, as well as pro-social
and altruistic ideals and values. On the negative side, protest participants express
feelings of anger, moral outrage and social shame, and they may even display extreme
negative emotions such as hate and aggressiveness.
The research focused on a large-scale protest movement that arose
spontaneously at La Puerta del Sol, the central square of Madrid (Spain), in the spring
of 2011. Large crowds began occupying the square to express their dissent at the
declining economic and social situation of their country. As the movement started up on
May 15th, 2011, it was referred to in Spain as the 15-M movement. It preceded the
Occupy Wall Street rallies that began on September 17, 2011, in Zuccotti Park in
New York City's Wall Street district in which analogous concerns were expressed. The

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 26


15-M movement quickly spread to other Spanish cities, taking the form of day and night
occupation of public places by numerous protesters. It was accompanied by intensive
social interaction involving the discussion of socio-political issues between participants.
Though quite heterogeneous in their origins and social status, these participants had in
common a strong rejection of Spanish politicians and firm support for what they viewed
as fundamental rights, such as housing, work, culture, health and education.
As a first hypothesis, we predicted that participants in these political
demonstrations, compared to control non-participants, would report higher levels of
perceived emotional synchrony with others, higher levels of emotions related to social
mobilization, and higher social integration. Secondly, we expected that the more
participants perceived themselves as being in synchrony with the other participants
during the demonstrations, the more they would manifest the predicted positive effects.
They were thus expected to report enhanced emotions related to social mobilization and
higher levels of social integration. Thirdly, we expected that participants, compared to
non-participants, would report greater endorsement of social beliefs and values related
to the 15-M social movement. Moreover, among these participants, higher perceived
emotional synchrony during the event would be related to higher endorsement of these
social beliefs and values.
Method
Participants. The data were collected in two successive waves. In the first of
these, 242 participants were recruited, of whom 140 reported being involved in the 15M movement and 102 were controls who responded in relation to some recent group
activity in which they had taken part. In the second wave, 136 more participants were
recruited: 59 had participated in 15-M and 77 completed the forms in reference to some
other group activity. The purpose of the second wave was to increase the number of

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 27


participants as well as to ask questions about items that were not included in the first
wave. Age range for the two waves was 17 to 68 (M = 29.47, SD = 11.79), and 45.4%
were males. Participants were residents of Madrid (34.2%), of Barcelona (22.1%), or of
the Basque Country (43.7%). Among them, 34.9% were currently employed, 41.2%
were university students, 16.4% were unemployed or retired, and 1.7% were
housewives. Nearly half of them (45.6%) held a university degree, and 61.2% had
received higher education of some kind. The vast majority were single (83.7%) and
Spanish nationals (86%). The group activities referred to by participants in their
answers to the study involved 15-M (52.6%), get-togethers with friends and family
(25.9%), trade union meetings (6.9%), sports team activities (4.6%), concerts (1.5%)
and other activities (8.5%).
Procedure. Participants were contacted during the month of June 2011 by
research collaborators either at locations where protesters gathered or on college and
university campuses. The research collaborator invited the persons contacted to
complete a short research questionnaire for a university study about participation in
social gatherings. Volunteers were then first asked whether they participated in the mass
events related to the 15-M movement. Those who answered negatively were instructed
as follows: Think of the most important group activity in which you have participated
in the last 15 days. This option was used so as to set up a comparison group of
respondents who also participated in social gatherings, but which were devoid of the
intensive symbolic and societal character of the 15-M movement. After the initial
question for categorizing them into the two groups, 15-M and control respondents both
answered the study questionnaires on the street. Therefore, the questionnaire had to be
limited in length. During the first data-collection wave, participants rated (a) their
positive and negative emotional responses to the social gathering (hope, anger), (b) their

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 28


perceived emotional synchronization with the other participants in that gathering, and
(c) their level of social integration assessed through perceived social support. As
mentioned above, a second wave of data was collected in order to amplify the sample
size (there were no significant differences between participants in these two waves). In
this second wave, participants rated the same three scales and, in addition, filled out a
short questionnaire assessing their adhesion to values (6 items).
Measures. In this study, emotions were evaluated by participants' ratings of
scales assessing two emotions related to social mobilization, i.e., hope and
anger/indignation. A scale of social support measured social integration and a scale of
values assessed social beliefs.
Emotional responses. Participants emotional responses to the social assembly
they referred to were measured using two items (Echebarra & Pez, 1989) assessing the
extent to which, in this situation, they experienced anger or moral outrage and hope
(on a 7-point rating scale ranging from 1 = not at all to 7 = very much).
Social integration. Participants indicated on 4-point scales the extent to which
they disagreed (1) or agreed (4) with each of the three items in the short version of the
Vaux Subjective Social Support Scale (Vaux et al., 1986) (e.g., I have strong affective
bonds with my friends). The scale yielded a Cronbachs of .87.
Social beliefs. Participants rated the extent to which they endorsed six values
among those openly promoted by the 15-M movement. Each of these six values
solidarity, freedom, dignity, participation, social justice and equity were rated on a 7point scale ranging from 1 = not at all to 7 = very much. Reliability was satisfactory, =
.86.

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 29


Perceived emotional synchrony. A shortened (7-item) version of the scale used
in Studies 1 and 2 was adopted (e.g., I experienced a strong group emotion or
feeling). It yielded satisfactory reliability, = .90.
Results
Hypotheses 1 and 2 were tested using the data collected in the first wave, and
Hypothesis 3 (adherence to social beliefs) was tested using the data collected in the
second wave. The predictions of Hypothesis 1 were almost entirely supported.
Participants in the 15-M political demonstrations reported higher perceived synchrony
with others (M = 5.21, SD = 1.23) than participants who responded in reference to other
types of gatherings (M = 4.30, SD = 1.34), t(228) = 5.28, p < .001, d = .77. Also, 15-M
participants reported higher levels of negative feelings (anger or moral outrage) (M =
6.64, SD = 0.86) than control respondents (M = 6.09, SD = 1.22), t(228) = 4.15, p <
.001, d = .52). However, regarding the positively valenced side of social movements,
15-M participants also expressed more hope (M = 5.53, SD = 1.43) than those in the
control group (M = 4.28, SD = 1.92), t(228) = 5.73, p < .001, d = .74. No difference was
found for perception of social support.
In order to test Hypothesis 2 on the mediation of perceived emotional synchrony,
multiple regressions were carried out using 15-M participation versus non-participation
as independent variables. Hayes and Preachers (2013) procedures were used in order to
test whether the relationship between participation and social support, emotions (hope
and anger) and social beliefs were mediated by perceived emotional synchrony (see
Figure 3a, b, c and d). As shown in Figures 3a and b, there was a significant indirect
effect of participation through perceived emotional synchrony on social support (B =
.15, SE = .04, CI [.08, .24]) as well as on hope (B = .38, SE = .10, CI [.19, .59]). As
shown in Figure 3b, when perceived emotional synchrony was taken into account, the

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 30


association of participation with hope decreased partially but remained significant.
Perceived social support was higher in participants with high emotional synchrony, M =
3.57, SD = .54 than in participants with low emotional synchrony, M = 3.30, SD = .60,
F(1, 224) = 12.9, p < .001, p2 = .055. Participants with high emotional synchrony also
reported stronger hope in reference to the movement, M = 4.89, SD = .26, than low
emotional synchrony participants, M = 4.18, SD = .20, F(1, 224) = 8.97, p = .003, p2=
.04. Finally, as shown in Figure 3c, a weak direct effect of perceived emotional
synchrony on anger was found, whereas the indirect effect was non-significant (B = .09,
SE = .06, CI [-.01, .22]). High and low emotional synchrony groups differed on anger,
in accordance with the mediation analysis.
--------------------------------------Insert Figure 3 about here
--------------------------------------Using the data obtained from the second wave to test Hypothesis 3, we
examined how participation in 15-M, compared to participation in other social
gatherings, was associated with greater endorsement of social beliefs and of values
advocated by the 15-M movement. As expected, t-test comparisons showed that 15-M
participants shared the social beliefs represented by the 15-M movement to a greater
extent than the control participants: solidarity, t(134) = 3.74, p<.001, freedom, t(134) =
2.82, p = .005, dignity, t(134) = 2.36, p = .02, participation, t(134) = 2.75, p = .007,
equity, t(134) = 2.51, p = .01, and finally, but only marginally, social justice, t(134) =
1.78, p = .08. Within the group of 15-M participants, we then examined how far
perceived emotional synchrony correlated with the endorsement of 15-M values. As
predicted, the more 15-M participants had experienced emotional synchrony during the
collective events, the stronger their endorsement was of the various 15-M related

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 31


values: solidarity, r(59) = .44, p < .001, freedom, r(59) = .39, p < .001, dignity, r(59) =
.51, p < .001, participation, r(59) = .29, p = .013, social justice, r(59) = .61, p < .001,
and equity, r(59) = .51, p < .001. A mediation analysis was performed with a global
index for all social beliefs (see Figure 3d). It yielded a significant direct and indirect
effect (B = .14, SE = .05, CI [.06, .25]) of participation on social beliefs through
perceived emotional synchrony.
Discussion
In line with Hypothesis 1, the results revealed that compared to controls,
participation in a protest movement was associated with stronger perceived emotional
synchrony with others as well as with stronger personal emotions such as hope and
anger.
Confirming Hypothesis 2, higher perceived emotional synchrony with others
was related to higher perceived social support and wholly mediated the association
between participation and social integration. A similar pattern was found when hope
was the dependent variable, however, in this case, perceived emotional synchrony
mediated the effect only partially. Hope was related to both personal and collective
efficacy as well as to framing the social issue as a solvable problem, which fueled social
mobilization (Fredrickson, 2009). Anger or moral outrage led to framing the social
problem as injustice, which also drove social mobilization (OMara, Jackson, Batson, &
Gaertner, 2011). These results were congruent with evidence from a meta-analysis
carried out by van Zomeren, Postmes and Spears (2008) that affective variables
surpassed non-affective ones as predictors of collective action. Thus, the correlational
findings of the present study were supportive of Durkheim's (1912) view that the social
sharing of emotion elicited by collective gatherings results in both enhanced social

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 32


integration and heightened social mobilization, and that emotions such as collective
anger play an important role in this respect.
Finally, as predicted by Hypothesis 3, emotional synchrony experienced during
the 15-M demonstrations was markedly associated with values related to the 15-M
protest movement, thus suggesting that the collective sharing of emotions strengthens
participants' commitment to high-level social representations such as values. This
observation fits with one of Durkheim's (1912) major ideas, according to which social
or collective representations such as cultural values are nourished by and anchored upon
emotions elicited by collective gatherings.
Study 4 Experimentally-Induced Protest Demonstration
While the consistency of the results yielded by the three preceding studies
provides arguments in favor of our hypotheses derived from Durkheim's model, they
lack the convincing evidence that could be offered by studies using an experimental
design involving appropriate control. Of course, performing an experimental
manipulation in a collective context constitutes a serious challenge. The study described
here represented an attempt in that direction. Participants were randomly assigned to
either an experimentally-induced collective protest demonstration or to a control
individual activity executed in the simple co-presence of others. Dependent measures
involved collective self-esteem, feeling of oneness with the group, perceived emotional
synchrony, and experience of flow. We expected the protest demonstrators to score
higher than the control participants on all four variables. Previous studies have shown
that flow experienced in a social situation elicited joyful experiences at a higher level
than solitary flow (Walker, 2010), but it remained unspecified whether the observed
positive outcomes were attributable to the experience of flow, or to perceived emotional

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 33


synchrony, or to both at the same time. In the present study our aim was to specify how
far each of these variables correlated positively with the positive outcomes.
Method
Participants. Participants were 42 students enrolled in a course on Social Work
(81% females) at the University of the Basque Country, who all took part voluntarily.
Mean age was 21.69 (SD = 3.78). They agreed to take part in the experiment and to
complete the study forms at three different time points relative to the main action one
week before, during the event, and one week after.
Procedure. Participants took part in an action presented as a contribution to a
pro-immigrant campaign organized by a local NGO called SOS Racism. Their
contribution involved imagining and creating banners with anti-racist slogans for use
during the SOS Racism outreach action in which they would subsequently take part.
Participants were then randomly assigned to execute this action either collectively
(experimental condition, N = 21) or individually, but in the presence of other
participants (control condition, N = 21). In the experimental condition, participants first
worked with their group to come up with the slogans. They were then instructed to
exhibit the prepared slogans on protest banners on the university campus during an
improvised demonstration held in public and filmed by an experimenter. In the control
condition, participants were assembled in a classroom and seated at individual desks.
Each of them had to come up with anti-racist slogans individually. Once ready, these
control participants were required to upload (again individually) their slogans on an
Internet demonstration platform, without participating in any public collective
demonstration. Collective self-esteem and fusion of identity with the group were
assessed first one week before the action and then for a second time one week after the
action. Fusion of identity with the group was again assessed immediately after the end

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 34


of the collective or individual action, together with measures of flow and of perceived
emotional synchrony.
Measures. In this study social identification was measured by the fusion of
identity scale, empowerment by a collective self-esteem scale, and mediation processes
by the previously-used scales of perceived emotional synchrony and of shared flow.
Fusion of identity. The pictographic measure of Fusion of identity with the
group (Swann et al., 2009) was used as in Study 2 in order to assess the experience of
oneness with the other participants in the course of the collective or individual action.
Empowerment. Participants responded to a brief, 3-item version of the private
subscale of the collective self-esteem scale (Luhtanen & Crocker, 1992), using 7-point
scales (1 = disagree strongly to 7 = agree strongly). Cronbachs was .77 at pre- and
.85 at post-evaluation.
Perceived emotional synchrony. The extended 18-item version of the scale of
perceived emotional synchrony with the other participants in the course of the collective
or individual activity was used, as in Studies 1 and 2. Reliability was satisfactory, =
.87.
Flow or optimal experience. A short version (18 items) of the Flow State Scale
(FFS) (Jackson & Marsh, 1996), based on its Spanish translation (Garcia Calv,
Jimnez, Santos-Rosa, Reina, & Cervell, 2008), was used to assess participants'
experience of flow during the course of the collective or individual action. This short
version contained two items for each of the nine dimensions of optimal experience. The
response scale ranged from 1 (completely disagree) to 5 (completely agree). Cronbachs
was .90 for the total sample.
Results
In order to compare the experimental and control groups, baseline or pre-test
scores were used as co-variables and multiple regressions were run on each of the two

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 35


dependent variables, i.e., collective self-esteem and fusion of identity. Multiple
regression as well as Hayes and Preachers (2013) procedures were employed to test the
mediation of emotional synchrony and flow. Both variables completely mediated the
effect of participation on collective self-esteem, which was no longer significant after
the inclusion of the mediators. However, as observed in Figure 4, only flow showed a
significant indirect effect on collective self-esteem (B = .35, SE = .23, CI [1.02, .04]).
Nevertheless, the mediation analysis did not provide evidence of indirect significant
effects of participation on identity fusion through flow (B = .03, SE = .16, CI [-.36,
.32]), nor through perceived emotional synchrony (B = .17, SE = .23, CI [-.73, .19]).
--------------------------------------Insert Figure 4 about here
--------------------------------------A complementary ANCOVA revealed significant differences between the
experimental and control groups for collective self-esteem, F(1,41) = 3.97, p = .05, p2
= .092, for fusion of identity with the group experienced during the activity, F(1,41) =
7.37, p = .01, p2 = .159, and for fusion of identity with the group assessed one week
after the activity, F(1,41) = 5.13, p = .029, p2 = .116. While the control group showed
no change for collective self-esteem (Mbefore = 5.10, SD = .86 and Mafter = 5.10, SD =
.82) or for fusion of identity (Mbefore = 3.70, SD = .71 and Mafter = 3.76, SD = .70), the
experimental group showed an increase in both collective self-esteem (Mbefore = 5.27, SD
=1.02 and Mafter = 5.62, SD = .86) and fusion of identity (Mbefore = 3.87, SD =.94 and
Mafter = 4.23, SD = .62) (see Figure 5).
--------------------------------------Insert Figure 5 about here
---------------------------------------

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 36


Respondents who took part in a collective activity reported higher perceived
emotional synchrony (M = 5.87, SD = .66) than respondents who were involved in an
individual one (M = 4.99, SD = .81), F(1,41) = 14.66, p <.001, p2 = .268. Flow was
also higher in the collective activity (M = 8.16, SD = .98) than in the individual one (M
= 7.23, SD = 1.02), F(1,41) = 8.96, p <.005, p2 = .183. The correlation between flow
and perceived emotional synchrony was substantial, r(42) = .82, p< .001. In the
collective condition, perceived emotional synchrony showed a significant correlation
with fusion of identity, r(21) = .54, p < .01. However, the correlation between the latter
variable and flow failed to reach significance, r(21) = .19, p =.20.
Discussion
This experimental study thus supported the major points of Durkheims model,
showing that involvement in a collective gathering elicited identity fusion and group
integration. After participating in the action, collective self-esteem and identity fusion
with the group increased in the collective condition compared to the control condition.
Moreover, perceived emotional synchrony and flow were higher during a collective
activity than during the individual one, confirming Walkers (2010) findings. In spite
having low degrees of freedom in this study, perceived emotional synchrony correlated
with flow and with fusion of identity experienced during demonstrations. However,
flow was not related to fusion of identity the latter being significantly associated only
with perceived synchrony and with emotional contagion. Finally, these experimental
results confirmed the profile of Study 2 with respect to identity fusion. Indeed,
collective emotional gatherings were seen to enhance fusion of identity or the merging
of the personal and the collective self. Such effects were particularly strong during the
climax of enacting the collective action, in support of the notion of collective

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 37


effervescence proposed by Durkheim. But they also remained higher after the
collective event compared to their level before it.
Complementary Analysis: Meta-Analytical Integration
The studies reported in this article allowed us to assess globally the predicted
effects of emotional involvement elicited among participants in collective gatherings.
We examined across our four studies how far assessments of perceived emotional
synchrony with other participants supported the critical role attributed by Durkheim to a
collective experience of emotional communion.
More specifically, first, we hypothesized that participation in a collective
gathering aimed at increasing participants' sense of union with others would positively
influence their social integration, strengthen their positive affect, enhance their
empowerment and reinforce their social beliefs. This hypothesis was tested in Studies 1,
3 and 4. Table 4 shows point biserial correlations as effect sizes of associations across
these studies between participation (score=2) and non-participation (score=1) and the
various dependent variables relevant to Hypothesis 1. As can be seen from this table, all
the predicted associations were significant, with only one exception: perceived social
support was not higher among participants in socio-political demonstrations than in
respondents who took part in less emotionally-involved social gatherings. Overall, these
results support our first hypothesis. They show that by comparison to non-participation,
participation in collective gatherings caused (Study 4) or was associated with (Studies 1
and 3) the expected positive psychosocial outcomes.
--------------------------------------Insert Table 4 about here
---------------------------------------

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 38


Secondly, in line with a central tenet of Durkheim's theory, we hypothesized that
the more participants experienced emotional synchrony in the collective situation, the
stronger the various positive effects considered by the model would be. This second
hypothesis was strongly supported across the four studies, as can be seen in Table 5.
This table displays correlations as effect size of associations between our participants'
scores for perceived emotional synchrony, on the one hand, and the dependent variables
assessed in the different studies, on the other. Thus, whether they referred to participants
in folkloric marches or to demonstrators in a socio-political conflict, the results
consistently supported our view that a higher level of perceived emotional synchrony
among participants in the collective event predicts higher levels in all four types of
positive outcomes measured after the event. Although in Study 1 (folkloric marches in
Belgium) and in Study 3 (real-life protest demonstration) the evidence in this respect
was weakened by an absence of baseline measurements of the dependent variables
before the event, this was not the case for Study 2 (Tamborrada), or for Study 4
(experimentally-induced protest demonstration). In each of the latter two studies, the
use of pre-test measurements as covariates in multiple regressions allowed us to
neutralize the impact of pre-existing differences among our participants. It can thus be
safely concluded that the higher the experience of perceived emotional synchrony in a
collective event, the higher the level of participants' identity fusion, social integration,
positive affect and empowerment, and the greater their endorsement of socially shared
values. These findings were congruent with those showing that emotions both
strengthen previous beliefs and support the formation of new ones, and that positive
emotions strengthen basic beliefs about the benevolence of the world (Van Cappellen,
Saroglou, Iweins, Piovesana, & Fredrickson, 2013).
---------------------------------------

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 39


Insert Table 5 about here
--------------------------------------The results of Studies 2 and 4 showed that during the course of a collective
event, perceived emotional synchrony and flow state were strongly associated, and both
correlated markedly with fusion of identity with the group. This profile of results
confirms the existence of close links between identification with the group, shared
emotions, and flow or absorption in the coordinated behavior during the collective
activity. When experiencing a state of flow, members of a group concurrently identified
more strongly with the group and experienced a stronger emotional bond with their coparticipants. Group flow as developed among marchers and demonstrators stimulated
the synchronicity between participants and thereby created the conditions for building
stronger groups. Team flow experienced in sports (e.g., basketball or volleyball) was
expressed as we were in synchrony with one another (Schiepe-Tiska & Engerser,
2011). Our studies substantiated Biasuttis (2011) claim that in collective or group flow:
"Sharing emotions and feelings with the other members of the group
is important, in order to synchronize mentally and generate group
strength. During flow performance there is attunement to self and
other. The connection between group and individual flow creates an
interesting dynamic in which the group flow provides energy to the
individuals which in turn generates individual flow back to the
group". (p. 526)
The present studies contributed to extending the empirical documentation on the
concept of flow. In Studies 2 and 4 in which flow and perceived emotional synchrony
were measured concurrently, the latter variable was strongly associated with all positive
outcomes, whereas this was not the case for flow, which was associated only with

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 40


positive affect. Such results suggest that, much more than absorption in a positive
experience, it is the socially shared behavioral and emotional experience in a collective
event that matters with regard to positive outcomes such as fusion of identity with the
group. In fact, whereas perceived emotional synchrony emerged as strongly related to
social outcomes, flow was observed to be related first and foremost to positive affect,
while also demonstrating an effect on collective self-esteem in Study 4. This suggests
that the optimal experience has mainly positive individual and affective effects, while
the socially shared facet (i.e., perceived synchrony) active in collective contexts impacts
social variables such as social integration.
General Discussion
The central idea of Durkheim's (1912) model is that collective gatherings entail a
number of psychosocial consequences among participants because of the particular
emotional dynamic they generate. Through emotion elicitation, reciprocal emotional
stimulation and the buildup of mutual empathy, collective gatherings bring participants
to a stage of emotional fusion or emotional synchrony. Feelings such as we are one
are viewed by Durkheim as being at the heart of these participants' experience of group
belonging and social integration. Though often referred to, this classic theory had still
not been subjected to empirical verification a century after it was proposed.
Half-longitudinal Study 2 and experimental Study 4 confirmed the collective
effervescence reinforcement of the social identity hypothesis proposed by Durkheim
(1912). They indeed showed that ritualized gatherings enhanced fusion of identity,
particularly during the climax of enacting the ritual. Thus, Durkheims notion of
collective effervescence is not a fuzzy, old-style concept from the early twentieth
century. It is a measurable process of intense socially-shared emotionality and
perception of similarity and unity, showing convergent validity with canonical measures

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 41


of identity fusion. Furthermore, current empirical literature on social behavior and
neuroscience is replete with concepts and findings fitting Durkheim's concepts of
collective effervescence and emotional communion. Affect contagion is now
investigated as the transmission of affect from one person to another. Preston and de
Waal (2002; de Waal, 2008) proposed an influential model of empathy at the core of
which lies a mechanism providing an observer with access to the subjective state of an
observed person, so that the former's neural representations of similar states are
automatically and unconsciously activated. In this way, the observed and the observer
are led to socially share their emotions. Such a notion is now supported by
neuropsychological research on mirror neurons showing that brain regions activated in
someone observing an action are the same as those that are active when this observer
performs the action (e.g., Gallese, Fadiga, Fogassi, & Rizzolatti, 1996; Iacoboni et al.,
1999; Rizzolatti, Fadiga, Gallese, & Fogassi, 1996). It has been proposed that this
mechanism is at the basis of a direct form of action understanding (Gallese, 2006).
Obviously, the same mechanism is likely to be involved in the spreading of emotional
states from person to person, the state active in the observed person being automatically
mirrored in the state of the observer, thus leading to a direct experiential understanding
between them. Goldman and Sripada (2005) have proposed a similar stimulation-based
mechanism as mediated resonance, and Gallese (2006) stressed that by means of
embodied stimulation, we do not just see an action, an emotion, or a sensation.
Rather, internal representations of the body states associated with this action, emotion,
or sensation are evoked in observers as if they were actually executing such an action.
A century after Durkheim's modeling of collective effervescence and perceived
emotional synchrony effects, current psychological concepts are thus broadly consistent

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 42


with his views and our empirical results largely confirmed the effects predicted by the
model.
These results showed that collective emotional gatherings strengthen
participants' affect balance in subjective well-being by reinforcing positive affect more
than by reducing negative affect. By increasing empowerment, collective emotional
gatherings reinforce the self-acceptance facet of psychological well-being. By
enhancing fusion of identity, collective gatherings not only enhance positive
relationships with others, but also reinforce an enlarged view of the self, as worthier and
more positive. This augmented merging of the self with the group probably favors states
of self-transcendence that help people find meaning and purpose in life
(Cskszentmihlyi, 1990; Ryff & Keyes, 1995). Furthermore, participation in positively
valenced collective emotional gatherings reinforces pro-social values and increases
positive world assumptions or social beliefs, and thus strengthens the feelings of a
purposeful and meaningful life, and probably the perception of personal growth as well.
Finally, it is important to note that perceived emotional synchrony correlated with a
short measure of happiness that included hedonic, psychological and social facets
(Vzquez & Hervs, 2012). The question thus arises of how long these effects last after
the collective gathering has dissolved. Our previous studies suggested that such effects
are limited in time, with one week for common collective events (Rim et al., 2010) and
three weeks for more intense collective gatherings such as socio-political
demonstrations (Pez et al., 2007). In the current Study 2, positive affect was
climactically higher during the folkloric march, and although the scores decreased after
the event, they remained higher than they had been before it showing a similar profile
to fusion of identity with the group. This observation suggests that the positive
influence on well-being lasted a week at the very least.

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 43


Conclusion
The positive effects of social support on mental and physical health are of course
well-known, and the positive effects of collective identity have been highlighted
previously (Haslam et al., 2009). In addition, Fischer et al. (2014) confirmed that
intensity of participation in a ritual collective gathering was related to arousal and
positive affect. Longitudinal evidence confirmed that a public honor ceremony for the
victims of a collective trauma predicts social well-being and solidarity (Hawdon &
Ryan, 2011). The present research examined specific processes or mechanisms
underlying the positive effects resulting from episodes of intense social interaction
associated with the dynamics of social movements. Our studies suggest that
participation in collective behaviors helps to infuse emotional energy by enhancing
positive affect and emotions, including feelings related to social categories such as
collective self-esteem. The core mechanism of the positive effects yielded by collective
gatherings on psychosocial well-being rests on the intensification of socially-shared
emotions and on the strengthening of perceived similarity, unity and entitativity with the
group that such intensification entails. These effects, in turn, reinforce positive social
beliefs and social integration.
In sum, our results support Durkheims intuition that simple and complex
cultural rituals, as well as religious and secularized collective gatherings, constitute
similar phenomena. Process and effects are alike. The only difference lies in the sacred
or secular values with which the collective event is imbued.

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 44


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PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 53


Table 1
Comparison of Walkers and Non-Walkers for the Various Dependent Variables (Study
1)
Walkers Non-Walkers

Social Integration

Self-Esteem

Positive Affect

Negative Affect

Beliefs - Benevolence

Beliefs - Justice

N = 93

N = 93

5.21

4.71

SD 1.04

0.83

5.62

5.19

SD 0.88

0.86

5.39

4.63

SD 1.06

1.05

2.55

2.82

SD 1.26

1.27

4.45

3.78

SD 1.10

0.93

3.88

3.33

SD 1.09

0.87

F(184) p

13.39 .000

11.64 .001

24.59 .000

2.09 .150

20.05 .000

14.67 .000

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 54


Table 2
Comparison of Walkers who Reported High and Low Perceived Emotional Synchrony
(Study 1)
Walkers
Low PES High PES
N = 46
Social Integration

N = 47

M 4.70

5.71

SD 0.98

0.83

M 5.54

5.70

SD 0.93

0.83

M 5.21

5.57

SD 0.97

1.11

M 2.45

2.65

SD 1.12

1.40

Beliefs - Benevolence M 4.21

4.68

SD 0.96

1.20

M 3.59

4.17

SD 0.92

1.18

Self-Esteem

Positive Affect

Negative Affect

Beliefs Justice

F(91) p

29.13 .000
0.81 .371
2.75 .101
0.58 .448
4.24 .042
6.98 .010

Note. Median split (5) was used to divide participants into low and high PES groups.

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 55


Table 3
Positive Affect, Social Integration, Fusion of Identity and Social Beliefs by High and
Low Perceived Emotional Synchrony (PES) in Drummers, Using Pre-Test as Covariate
(Study 2)
Drummers

Happiness Index

Positive Emotions

Negative Emotions

Social Support

Collective Efficacy

Fusion of Identity

Social Beliefs

Low PES

High PES

N = 165

N = 154

(1,314)

p<

33.49

.001

180.61

.001

4.58

.033

35.73

.001

25.91

.001

21.77

.001

12.3

.001

M 5.66

6.32

SD 1.34

1.15

M 3.56

4.31

SD .55

.45

M 1.31

1.22

SD .42

.28

M 5.18

5.77

SD 1.01

.91

M 7.06

8.91

SD 1.83

1.47

M 3.84

4.17

SD 1.15

0.92

M 3.44

3.67

SD 0.56

0.54

Note. Median split (5.44) was used to divide participants into low and high PES
groups.

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 56


Table 4
Correlation as Effect Size between Participation in Collective Gatherings versus NonParticipation and the Various Outcome Variables in Studies 1, 3 and 4. Weighted
Average Correlation Coefficients are based on Rosenthal (1991)
Variable and study

Correlation with participation

Fusion of Identity
Fusion of identity with group (Study 4)

r(42) = .34**

Social Integration
Social integration (Study 1)

r(186) = .26**

Perceived social support (Study 3)

r(238) = .02

Positive Affect

Weighted r = .34

Positive affect (STAI, Study 1)

r(186) = .34**

Positive emotion (Hope, Study 3)

r(238) = .35**

Empowerment

Weighted r = .26

Individual self-esteem (Study 1)

r(186) = .24**

Collective self-esteem (Study 4)

r(42) = .35**

Social Beliefs and Values

Weighted r = .35

Benevolent and just world (Study 1)

r(186) = .32**

Values (Study 3)

r(132) = .40**

Note. + p < .10, *p < .05,**p < .01.

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 57


Table 5
Effect Size Estimation of Association Between Perceived Emotional Synchrony and
Fusion of Identity, Social Integration, Positive Affect and Well-Being, Self-Esteem and
Social Beliefs. Weighted Average Correlation Coefficients are based on Rosenthal
(1991)
Variable and Study

Perceived Emotional Synchrony

Fusion of Identity

Weighted r = .56

Fusion of identity with group (Study 2)

r(319) = .56**

Fusion of identity with group (Study 4)

r(21) = .54**

Social Integration

Weighted r = .34

Social integration (Study 1)

r(93) = .49**

Social integration (Study 2)

r(319) = .37**

Social support (Study 3)

r(132) = .34**

Positive Affect and Well-Being

Weighted r = .57 (PWB study 2 excluded)

Positive affect (STAI, Study 1)

r(93) = .17*

Personal well-being (Study 2)

r(319) = .35**

Positive affect (Fredrickson, Study 2)

r(319) = .71**

Positive emotion (Hope, Study 3)

r(132) = .37**

Empowerment

Weighted r = .27

Collective self-esteem (Study3)

r(132) = .19*

Collective self-esteem (Study 4)

r(21) = .28+

Social Beliefs and Values

Weighted r = .21

Benevolent and just world (Study 1)

r(93) = .26*

Benevolent and just world (Study 2)

r(319) = .19**

Values (Study 3)

r(78) = .22*

Note. + p < .10, *p < .05,**p < .01.

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 58


Figure 1. Psychosocial Effect of Participation in Collective Gatherings

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 59


Figure 2. Fusion of Identity with the Group - Before, During and After (Study 2)

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 60

Figure 3. Mediating Role of Perceived Emotional Synchrony (PES) in Predicting


Enhancement of (a) Social Support, (b) Hope, (c) Anger, (d) Social Beliefs among 15
Participants in Comparison to Others (Study 3)

Note: Non standardized regression coefficients are presented. Numbers in parentheses refer to
the beta after the mediators were added to the regression equation (direct effect); + p < .06, *p
< .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001.

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 61


Figure 4. Mediating Role of Perceived Emotional Synchrony (PES) and Flow in
Predicting Collective Self-Esteem Enhancement (controlled for baseline or pre-test)
after Participation in Collective vs. Individual Condition (Study 4)

Note: Non standardized regression coefficients are presented. Numbers in parentheses refer to
the beta after the mediators were added to the regression equation (direct effect); *p < .05, **p
< .01, ***p < .001.

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 62


Figure 5. Fusion of Identity with the Group - Before, During and After (Study 4)

PERCEIVED EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS 63


Appendix 1. - Perceived Emotional Synchrony: 18-item version
Please answer according to your feelings towards your Tamborrada group, taking into account
that 1=Not at all and 7= All of the time

1. We felt stronger emotions than those we normally feel.


2. It seemed like we could read each others minds.
3. We felt that we were one.
4. We felt more sensitive to our emotions and feelings because we were
surrounded by people who felt the same.
5. We felt a strong shared emotion.
6. We performed as one, like a single person.
7. We didnt need words to express the feeling between us.
8. We felt a strong rapport between us.
9. We felt really united, almost melded into one.
10. What we were as a group was more important than what we were as
individuals.
11. We felt more intense emotions because we all went through the same
experience.
12. I felt as if I was transported out of myself, becoming part of the group.
13. It seemed to me as if we were a single person.
14. I felt a strong emotional bond between us.
15. We let ourselves get carried away by our emotions.
16. We communicated without words.
17. We shared a moment of unity.
18. We all felt a strong emotion.

Figure 1. Psychosocial Effect of Participation in Collective Ga

Figure 2. Fusion of Identity with the Group (Study 2)

Figure 3. Mediating Role of Perceived Emotional Sy nchrony (PES

Figure 4. Mediating Role of Perceived Emotional Sy nchrony (PES)

Figure 5. Fusion of Identity with the Group (Study 4)

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