ArticleFrontiers in psychology2025
Actions and feelings in sync: exploring the relationship between synchrony and empathy in children's dyadic musical interactions.
Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- When music tells a story: children's language and socioemotional development through music-supported narrative learning.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Pooled it
- Auditory rhetoric in music: a perceptual framework for music-induced prosocial behavior.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Neurophysiological mechanisms of embodied empathy in martial arts.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
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Abstract
Introduction: This study investigated the relationship between interpersonal synchrony and empathy in children's music-making. Drawing from a theoretical framework that suggests a bidirectional relationship between synchrony and empathy, the study examined three key aspects of this relationship: (1) the role of children's trait empathy in achieving interpersonal synchrony; (2) synchrony's effects on empathy following brief musical interactions; and (3) the role of experimentally induced empathy in moderating the social bonding effects of synchrony. Methods: Seventy-two pairs of primary school children participated in two experiments. The first involved free tapping, where participants were instructed to synchronize with one another. In the second experiment, synchrony was manipulated, using an apparatus that either facilitated or disrupted synchrony within pairs. Prior to this task, half of the pairs received a false message about their partner, intended to induce empathy. Trait empathy and social bonding were assessed via self-reported questionnaires. Results: Findings revealed that cognitive and affective trait empathy related to children's ability to synchronize with one another, particularly when participants' temporal performance was unstable (Aspect 1). In addition, brief synchronous musical interactions were found to promote empathy within pairs (Aspect 2). Our method to experimentally induce empathy was not sufficient to influence the social bonding effects of synchrony (Aspect 3). However, trait empathy, pairs' gender composition and familiarity between children emerged as factors affecting the attainment of synchrony and the bonding experience of music-making. Discussion: This is the first empirical study investigating multiple aspects of the interplay between synchronizing and empathizing in children, paving the way for future exploration of the mechanisms allowing for a bidirectional relationship. The study outcomes can inform musical interventions leveraging this relationship to nurture children's simultaneous musical and social development.
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