Movement Correlation as a Nonverbal Cue in the Judgment of Affiliation during Social Interaction

It has been demonstrated that brief exposure to behavioral information is sufficient for making accurate social judgments. Movement coordination during social interaction, is one potential cue. Although coordination between individuals has been identified, our ability to perceive it when making judgments regarding affiliation (friends vs. strangers) is unknown. In the present studies, we investigated how correlated movement contributes to observers’ accuracy when judging affiliation. Using correlation map analysis to quantify coordination, we showed that individuals familiar with each other correlated their movements more frequently. Observers were able to use coordination as a cue, but only when the information presented was restricted to movement related to speech (i.e. while only viewing faces). These results suggest that observed movement coordination is influenced by speech-related movements. We suggest that social perception is multi-faceted and cues may be prioritized differentially based on availability.