Name:Zachary Gokarn

School/Affiliation:McMaster University

Co-Authors:Daniel Cameron, Maria Witek, Dobromir Dotov, Joanna Spyra

Virtual or In-person:In-person

Short Bio:

Zachary Gokarn is a third-year undergraduate student in the Honours Biology and Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour program at McMaster University. He first began assisting with research under the supervision of Dr. Daniel Cameron since the summer of 2024, and has since been studying how musical and social factors influence audience movement in a live concert setting.

Abstract:

Group dancing to music is a behaviour that is observed worldwide. We know from prior research that musical factors such as bass and rhythmic complexity can influence people’s movement. Social interactions can also affect how people move to music. We are not, however, certain whether or how these factors interact to influence dancing in a live concert setting. Here, participants (n=65) attended an electronic dance music concert as audience members. Participants’ head positions were measured using motion capture, which were used to calculate their movement speeds. Throughout the concert, the musicians systematically manipulated the intensity of the bass (weak or strong), and the complexity of the kick drum rhythm (absent, simple pulse, or complex). We also recruited confederates who would dance with relatively high or low energy when cued to do so. Our results indicate that audience members moved more when there was a strong bass intensity only when confederates were moving with high energy, and vice versa. Another interaction was found between rhythm and social movement energy, which suggests that pulse rhythms only elicited more movement than complex ones when social movement energy was high. Additionally, factors like participants’ proximity to the stage and self perceptions of how music affects one’s movement were associated with increased movement, especially while there was a kick drum rhythm playing. Ongoing analyses regarding interpersonal and beat synchronization are underway. Overall, this study helps to uncover how musical and social factors can combine in real-world group dance to motivate group movement.