Emotional communion synchrony effects collective behavior

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Psychosocial Effects of Perceived Emotional Synchrony inCollective GatheringsDario Páez, Bernard Rimé, Nekane Basabe, Anna Wlodarczyk, and Larraitz ZumetaOnline First Publication, March 30, 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000014

CITATIONPáez, D., Rimé, B., Basabe, N., Wlodarczyk, A., & Zumeta, L. (2015, March 30). PsychosocialEffects of Perceived Emotional Synchrony in Collective Gatherings. Journal of Personality andSocial Psychology. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000014

Psychosocial Effects of Perceived Emotional Synchrony inCollective Gatherings

Dario PáezUniversity of the Basque Country and University of Santiago

de Chile

Bernard RiméUniversity of Louvain

Nekane BasabeUniversity of the Basque Country

Anna WlodarczykUniversity of the Basque Country and University

of Santiago de Chile

Larraitz ZumetaUniversity of the Basque Country

In a classic theory, Durkheim (1912) predicted that because of the social sharing of emotion theygenerate, collective gatherings bring participants to a stage of collective effervescence in which theyexperience 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 insocial institutions. A century after Durkheim’s predictions of these effects, though, they remaineduntested as a whole. This article reports 4 studies, 2 correlational, 1 semilongitudinal, and 1 experimental,assessing the positive effects of participation in either positively valenced (folkloric marches) ornegatively valenced (protest demonstrations) collective gatherings. Results confirmed that collectivegatherings consistently strengthened collective identity, identity fusion, and social integration, as well asenhancing personal and collective self-esteem and efficacy, positive affect, and positive social beliefsamong participants. In line with a central tenet of the theory, emotional communion, or perceivedemotional synchrony with others mediated these effects. Higher perceived emotional synchrony wasassociated with stronger emotional reactions, stronger social support, and higher endorsement of socialbeliefs and values. Participation in symbolic collective gatherings also particularly reinforced identityfusion when perceived emotional synchrony was high. The respective contributions of perceivedemotional synchrony and flow, or optimal experience, were also assessed. Whereas perceived emotionalsynchrony emerged as strongly related to the various social outcomes, flow was observed to be relatedfirst to collective efficacy and self-esteem, and thus, to encompass mainly empowerment effects.

Keywords: collective gatherings, emotional communion, perceived emotional synchrony, emotionalcontagion, identity fusion

After a long period of neglect, collective processes and collec-tive emotions are currently the object of a major revival in psy-chology 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 gather-ings (Collins, 2004) and in social movements (Drury & Reicher,

Dario Páez, Department of Social Psychology and Methodology ofBehaviour Sciences, University of the Basque Country, and Department ofManagement and Public Policy, Faculty of Management and Economics,University of Santiago de Chile; Bernard Rimé, Department of Psychologyand Educational Sciences, University of Louvain; Nekane Basabe, Depart-ment of Social Psychology and Methodology of Behaviour Sciences,University of the Basque Country; Anna Wlodarczyk, Department ofSocial Psychology and Methodology of Behaviour Sciences, University ofthe Basque Country, and Department of Management and Public Policy,Faculty of Management and Economics, University of Santiago de Chile;Larraitz Zumeta, Department of Social Psychology and Methodology ofBehaviour Sciences, University of the Basque Country.

This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Scienceand Innovation (PSI2011-26315); the University of the BasqueCountry (grant number IT-666-13 and UFI 11/04); and Research Per-sonnel Education and Training Program scholarship granted by theBasque Government to Anna Wlodarczyk (BFI-2011-17) and LarraitzZumeta (PRE_2013_1_738). We thank Marie-Lyne Jaminet for herrole in collecting data and for her helpful research assistance onStudy 1.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to AnnaWlodarczyk, Department of Social Psychology and Methodology ofBehaviour Sciences, University of the Basque Country, Avenida deTolosa 70, 20018 San Sebastián, Spain. E-mail: [email protected]

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Journal of Personality and Social Psychology © 2015 American Psychological Association2015, Vol. 108, No. 1, 000 0022-3514/15/$12.00 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000014

1

2009) have recently been proposed as entailing major positiveeffects on social cohesion, social functioning, and individual well-being. The studies reported in this article intended to assess em-pirically the validity of such propositions, in both positively andnegatively valenced collective situations. Additionally, the re-ported studies aimed at identifying variables that play a mediatingrole in the production of these effects. The latter aspect appearedespecially important as it addresses the critical question of theinterface linking individual and collective processes. In the intro-duction to follow, we will first refer to Durkheim’s classic modelof effects of participation in collective gatherings. This modelencompasses detailed predictions in this regard, and shared emo-tions are clearly identified as the key variable mediating thepredicted effects. Next, we will compare this classic model withthree recent ones covering similar effects but identifying a differ-ent mediating variable. Finally, we will draw conclusions from thiscomparison for the specific tests that need to be conducted in ourstudies and we will set out the hypotheses that guided thesestudies.

Durkheim’s Model of Collective Processes

Durkheim (1912) stressed that social rituals, festivals, and wor-ship celebrations periodically gathering individuals together fulfillthe function of recreating the social group and reviving sharedbeliefs. Such events involve shouting, singing, music, movement,and dancing, as well as the use of stimulants. For Durkheim, thecore aspect in these social situations lies in the shared emotionsthat are felt and expressed, in the reciprocal emotional stimulationthat follows and in the collective emotional effervescence thatresults. Individuals are transported out of themselves as theircommon feelings and shared beliefs take over. Participants thusexperience both a sense of union with others and a feeling ofempowerment accompanied by positive affect. Hence, they leavethe collective situation with a renewed sense of confidence in lifeand in social institutions.

Empirical studies confirmed that participation in collective emo-tional gatherings such as mourning ceremonies or protest demon-strations yields psychosocial outcomes in line with Durkheim’s(1912) views. They indeed showed that participation: (a) enhancessocial identity (i.e., social identity, Neville & Reicher, 2011; ethnicidentification, Gasparre, Bosco, & Bellelli, 2010; identity fusionwith others, Swann, Jetten, Gómez, Whitehouse, & Bastian, 2012),which implies a qualitative change in self-concept from personal tosocial, switching the self to a collective level, as posited by theself-categorization perspective; (b) increases social cohesion andsocial integration (Weiss & Richards, 1997; perceived social sup-port, Páez, Basabe, Ubillos, & Gonzalez, 2007; positive intergroupstereotypes and positive emotional climate, Kanyangara, Rimé,Philippot, & Yzerbyt, 2007; solidarity, Hawdon & Ryan, 2011);(c) reinforces positive emotions and affect (Fischer et al., 2014;Neville & Reicher, 2011; Páez et al., 2007); (d) enhances empow-erment or reinforces self-concept, including both self-esteem andself-efficacy (Drury & Reicher, 2005; personal self-esteem, Páezet al., 2007; collective self-esteem, Rimé, Kanyangara, Yzerbyt, &Páez, 2011); and (e) aids endorsement of the group’s beliefs andvalues (Collins, 2004; Fischer et al., 2014; Páez et al., 2007). Insummary, although spread across different studies, empirical sup-port does exist for the effects of collective gatherings described by

Durkheim (1912). Thus, even if collective events can entail neg-ative effects and costs (e.g., enhancing negative emotions, hatred,and negative stereotypes of out-group members), successful col-lective emotional gatherings can simultaneously reinforce positiveaffect, self-esteem, and well-being (Tewari, Khan, Hopkins, Srini-vasan, & Reicher, 2012).

Movement Synchronization and Mimicry

Movement Synchronization

Most effects similar to those described by Durkheim for collec-tive emotional gatherings are, somewhat perplexingly, also ob-served among individuals who synchronize their movements. In areview of synchronized movements in the history of humankind,McNeill (1995) identified effects that can be grouped into fourclasses: (a) openness to the world (altered consciousness, inflationof the self, blurring of self-awareness, or loss of self-boundaries);(b) openness to others (feelings of being together, of being onewith others, or “esprit de corps”); (c) positive affect (relaxation,calming, or well-being); and (d) empowerment (confidence, en-ergy, strength, or satisfaction with the world in general). Theseeffects, of course, largely overlap those cited by Durkheim (1912).They were recently supported by studies manipulating movementsynchronization (e.g., Kirschner & Tomasello, 2009; Miles, Nind,Henderson, & Macrae, 2010; Paladino, Mazzurega, Pavani, &Schubert, 2010; Vacharkulksemsuk & Fredrickson, 2012;Valdesolo, Ouyang, & DeSteno, 2010; Wiltermuth & Heath,2009). Experimental inductions of synchrony have includedmarching in step around the campus in groups of three, listening tomusic while performing an action in synchrony, or swingingtogether rhythmically in rocking chairs. Observed effects includedopenness to others, feelings of self-broadening, feelings of simi-larity and unity, overlap between self and other, enhanced proso-cial behaviors, and enhanced positive affect.

Being Mimicked

Similar effects have also been documented in the study ofimitation, a specific form of movement synchronization. Afterreviewing studies examining someone being mimicked unknow-ingly, Chartrand and Lakin (2013) found being mimicked to entail:(a) positive affect, and (b) openness to others (as indexed throughattraction, empathy, helping behavior, perception of interdepen-dence, choice of physical closeness, confidence in each other,progress of negotiations, or ability to decode emotions). Imitationwas also found to increase prosocial behavior (van Baaren, Hol-land, Kawakami, & van Knippenberg, 2004). Thus, imitation dem-onstrated effects quite comparable with those of both movementsynchronization and collective emotional gatherings.

Emotional Synchrony

In summary, synchronized behaviors such as marching, singing,and in general doing things together have been demonstrated toenhance self-categorization as a member of a group, sense of unionwith others, positive affect, and prosocial behavior. Durkheim(1912) considered such effects to be the result of collective emo-tional effervescence, an amplified, excited reaction made possible

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2 PÁEZ, RIMÉ, BASABE, WLODARCZYK, AND ZUMETA

when a group of people experience something emotional together.When expressed collectively, human feelings intensify. Both sad-ness and joy are amplified by echoing from consciousness toconsciousness: Everyone drives everyone. In Durkheim’s view,the specific nature of the pooled feelings does not matter. They canrange from extreme depression to extreme elation, painful irrita-tion, or ecstatic enthusiasm. What is essential is that individualsare gathered together, that common feelings are felt and that thesefeelings are expressed in common acts. Group members need tofeel in communion, to feel united in the same mind and in the sameaction. Regardless of the specific nature of the feelings and actsinvolved, the basic process of emotional synchrony always leads tothe same positive effects described above.

However, data from the study of synchronized movements sug-gested that the same effects occurred even when the coordinatedaction was meaningless and devoid of affect (Valdesolo et al.,2010). Behavioral synchrony devoid of symbolic load (e.g., UnitedStates citizens singing the Canadian national anthem) provoked anincrease in prosocial behavior and social identification (Wilter-muth & Heath, 2009). Similar effects were also found from min-imal coordinated activity, or activity that did not change affect.Thus, when soldiers march in step, it is unlikely that they areexperiencing strong emotions, yet effects analogous to those de-scribed so far resulted from their synchronized action (McNeill,1995).

Multifaceted Social Synchronization

How is it that movement synchronization and emotional effer-vescence entail similar social and individual effects? We view theemotional effervescence that develops in a collective gathering asa multifaceted process of social synchronization. When a commonemotional event is enacted collectively, (a) participants convergetogether in special spaces and at particular times; (b) they shareconcerns, intentions, and goals and they mutually reinforce themas the event develops; (c) they share cognitive and emotionalresponses to the displayed group symbols (e.g., flags, emblems,leaders, or icons); (d) they focus their attention on a single target—podium, stage, altar, speaker, leader, priest, and so forth; (e) theydisplay group mimesis or coordinated collective behaviors (sharedgestures, shared movements, moving, and marching together), thusenacting behavioral synchrony; and (f) their synchronized behav-iors 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’smind, voice and body becomes attuned to the state shared in thegroup. Finally, and most important, all six preceding elementsstimulate participants’ emotional arousal in such a way that theywill experience and enact similar emotional states; therein proba-bly lies the strongest source of the social and individual effects ofparticipation in collective gatherings. Because of the ease withwhich emotions are mirrored, shared, and spread among peoplewho are copresent (Gallese, 2001; Hatfield, Cacioppo, & Rapson,1993; Iacoboni, 2009; Rimé, 2007), a situation of emotional syn-chrony develops; thus, entailing perceptions of similarity andunity: “we feel the same, we are the same, we are one,” by thistoken massively reinforcing group identification (Collins, 2004;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. However, the emotionaleffervescence and perceived emotional synchrony occurring incollective gatherings would play a central explanatory role inmagnifying the effects of such social events.

The Central Role of Shared Emotions

Though scarce, some data supported the role played by sharedemotions in effects such as those posited by Durkheim. Sharedemotion was recently shown to act as an antecedent of collectiveidentity. Thus, Livingstone, Spears, Manstead, Bruder, and Shep-herd (2011) showed that the fit between participants’ own emo-tional reactions and the reactions of ingroup members influencesself-categorization. A few studies have directly submitted theconcept of collective effervescence and perceived emotional syn-chrony to empirical investigation. For instance, Xygalatas, Kon-valinka, Bulbulia, and Roepstorff (2011) examined the physiolog-ical effects of a highly arousing Spanish fire-walking ritual. Theyfound shared patterns in heart-rate dynamics between participantsand spectators who had previously reported identifying with fire-walkers. This confirmed that in a ritual, identification betweenactors and spectators elicits shared emotional states. Affect trans-mitted by automatic imitation and by feedback from mimickednonverbal behavior was also supported (Lakin, Jefferis, Cheng, &Chartrand, 2003). Perceiving someone’s facial expression in asocial interaction contributed to actually feeling the emotion asso-ciated with that expression (Stel & Vonk, 2010). Hatfield andcolleagues (1993) emphasized that in addition to facial expres-sions, haptic, vocal, and verbal information from others alsoevokes emotional contagion. Studies on the social sharing ofemotion (e.g., Rimé, 2009) and on capitalization of positive emo-tion (e.g., Gable & Reis, 2010) found that verbal interactionincreases emotionality and induces emotional convergence amonginteraction partners, partly because it elicits a common appraisal ofevents (von Scheve & Ismer, 2013). Finally, participation in col-lective gatherings stimulates social sharing of emotion, which inturn reinforces participants’ personal and collective emotions(Rimé, 2007; Rimé, Páez, Basabe, & Martínez, 2010). However,these promising studies did not incorporate self-report measures ofcollective emotional effervescence, and used a limited number ofoutcomes.

Crowd Behavior, Self-Categorization, and Emotions

Another approach in relation to the psychosocial effects ofcollective gatherings is proposed by the Elaborated Social IdentityModel of crowd behavior (ESIM; Drury & Reicher, 2005, 2009).In this model, which is based on the tenets of Self-CategorizationTheory, a similar surge of social cohesion, of empowerment and ofpositive affect is described as resulting from crowd dynamics. Inthe ESIM, however, these effects are attributed to cognitive changeoccurring among participants. The model posits that feeling andacting as part of a crowd operates through self-categorizations.Participants categorize themselves with the other participants interms of some context-relevant features (e.g., “we are all drum-mers,” or “we are all antiracist demonstrators”), in contrast to apassive audience and/or to a physically present or symbolicallypresent out-group. Additional bases for seeing oneself as a member

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3EMOTIONAL SYNCHRONY IN COLLECTIVE GATHERINGS

of a group with others evolve from the perception of a commonfate or from the awareness of an external threat viewed as sharedby everyone present in the crowd. The resulting common redefi-nition of participants’ social identity leads to perceptions of sim-ilarity and unity with the others. This, in turn, can mean acting inthe interests of these others in various ways, even if they are notattractive or known personally. For Drury and Reicher (2005,2009), the shift from “me” to “we” means a greater commitmentand loyalty to the group, which is now seen more like “self” thanas “other.” Thus, according to the ESIM, the changes in self-categorization resulting from participation in a collective move-ment can account for the transformation of an aggregate of indi-viduals into a psychologically unified crowd with social cohesion.

Such a “cognitivist” view of crowd processes does not, how-ever, mean eliminating or replacing the role of collective efferves-cence or shared emotions that was advocated by Durkheim ascentral in determining the psychosocial effects entailed by collec-tive gatherings. To illustrate, Drury and Reicher (2009) reportedthat at a demonstration, participants came together as a unitedforce because of their shared experience of illegitimate treatmentby members of the out-group (the police). However, it is verylikely that these participants’ cognitive experience of illegitimatetreatment also activated in them powerful emotions of anger, offrustration and of resentment that they then expressed and shared;thus, creating the collective effervescence described by Durkheim.Drury and Reicher (2009) indeed stated: “The sense of crowd unitywas evident in participants’ behavior, as they oriented together,focusing on the same targets, sang and chanted together, andpushed in unison . . .” (p. 714). The authors added that after theredefinition of their social identity and the resulting feelings ofcohesion and empowerment, participants at the same time experi-enced a deep sense of happiness and even euphoria at beinginvolved in demonstrations (Drury & Reicher, 2005, 2009; Neville& Reicher, 2011). All these elements concur with Durkheim’sperspective according to which shared emotions play a key role incollective gatherings. Social identification results from a “hot”emotional process that complements the cognitive self-categorization. Thus, we conclude that the process of sharingcommon feelings explains the reinforcement of social identity andcohesion above mere self-categorization.

Collective Gatherings and Shared Flow

An interesting link exists between Durkheim’s concept andthe notion of flow, or “optimal experience” proposed by Csik-szentmihályi (1990). This latter author indeed viewed collectivegatherings or rituals as “affordances that a society offers to itsmembers in order to allow them to meet optimal experiencesunder socially desirable forms” (p. 432). Interviews with ath-letes revealed that in team sports, unison movements, andshared focus of attention are critical to the experience of flow(Schiepe-Tiska & Engerser, 2011). Walker (2010) demonstratedthat experiencing flow in a social situation elicits higher feel-ings of joy than does solitary flow. In addition, in line with theideas developed above, Walker argued that experiences of col-lective flow involve both a loss of consciousness of the self anda perception of emotional synchrony with the group and theaudience. Thus, collective optimal experiences, collective ef-fervescence, and movement synchronization overlap. Shared

optimal experience could be conceived of as a facet or compo-nent of participants’ experience in collective gatherings. How-ever, Csíkszentmihályi (1990) posited that affect and emotionswere not important in flow, and that flow addressed essentiallyan optimally experienced activity.

This opened up a specific additional question to be addressed inempirical studies. Which of these two processes offers the bestaccount of the positive effects of participation in a collective event:Csíkszentmihályi’s flow and the experience of optimal perfor-mance, or Durkheim’s emotional effervescence and the perceptionof emotional synchrony?

Hypotheses

The studies reported below set out to test Durkheim’s model ofpositive effects of participation in collective emotional gatherings.In our view, the requirements to adequately test this model werefourfold. First, as shown earlier, empirical support exists for eachof the various predicted effects (i.e., enhancement of collectiveidentity and social integration, positive affect, self-esteem, sharedbeliefs, and values), but the evidence is scattered across a multi-tude of studies. Research should examine whether the predictedeffects happen together. Second, Durkheim was explicit that re-gardless of the positive or negative valence of the collective event,participants would manifest the predicted positive effects. Studiesshould thus assess the predicted effects in both positively andnegatively valenced collective gatherings. Third, Durkheim con-sidered collective emotions to play a critical role. We showedthat this view is now controversial. Up to now, this essentialaspect of the model remained unassessed with regard to thevarious effects it predicts. Fourth, in line with the last part ofour introduction, Durkheim’s emotional effervescence andCsíkszentmihályi’s nonemotional flow should be disentangledas ways of accounting for the effects of participation in collec-tive gatherings.

The four studies reported here intended to fulfill these variousrequirements (see Figure 1 for an overview). For each of them,participants in collective events were assessed for several of thevarious effects described by Durkheim. Thus, we first hypothe-sized that participation in a collective gathering would strengthenparticipants’ collective identity—meaning social integration andidentity fusion—positive affect, empowerment, or self-esteem, andendorsement of the group’s values and beliefs. This hypothesiswas tested in Studies 1, 3, and 4 comparing participants in acollective gathering (participants in folkloric marches or walkers,demonstrators involved in Spain’s 15-M social movement, andparticipants in induced proimmigrant demonstrations) and nonpar-ticipants (nonparticipants in marches, nonparticipants in the 15-Mmovement, and participants performing individual tasks and notassigned to a proimmigrant demonstration), and in Study 2 com-paring high versus low level of participation. Second, we hypoth-esized that the various effects would be manifest in both positivelyand negatively valenced collective gatherings. Thus, our first twostudies examined participants in positively valenced traditionalfolkloric marches and our next two investigated participants innegatively valenced protest demonstrations. In a third hypothesisin line with a central tenet of Durkheim’s theory, we predicted thatthe more participants experienced emotional synchrony in thecollective situation, the stronger the various predicted effects

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would be. This third hypothesis was all the more necessary inview of the fact that recently available observations mightchallenge the critical role assigned by Durkheim to sharedemotions. This hypothesis was tested both as a direct effect ofperceived emotional synchrony in all outcomes and as a medi-ational effect between participation and psychosocial effects inStudies 2, 3, and 4.

Overview of Studies

Study 1 compared participants in a collective gathering with amatched sample of nonparticipants. The variables examined weresocial integration, positive affect, empowerment, and social be-liefs. This study also explored the association between perceivedemotional synchrony and the previous variables. To overcome thelimitations of the cross-sectional design of this first study, Study 2was conducted following a quasi-longitudinal design in whichsocial integration, positive affect, empowerment, and social beliefswere measured before and after the collective event. In this secondstudy, participants’ level of involvement was measured and ameasure of identity fusion with the group was added to assessspecific social identification. This measure was applied threetimes, that is, before, during, and after the event. This allowed usto test the change of these two variables during the collectivegathering and to verify whether a climax indexing collectiveeffervescence occurred. In this second study a measure of sharedflow and a measure of perceived synchrony were also introducedduring the collective activity. Study 2 measured all five variables(identity fusion, social integration, positive affect and well-being,

empowerment, and social beliefs) hypothesized to be affected bycollective gatherings and examined the relative importance ofshared flow and emotional synchrony as measured during theactivity.

The first two studies were conducted on folkloric marches,that is, collective events with only a low level of ideologicalcontent. In contrast, the next two addressed protest demonstra-tions, in which high levels of ideological content were involved.In such contexts, assessing effects of participation on endorse-ment of social beliefs and values was much more relevant.Whereas the design of Study 2 lacked a control group, Study 3did include one. Participants in a sociopolitical demonstrationrelated to social issues and social values were compared withparticipants in collective gatherings where no important issueswere involved. Study 4 was designed with the purpose ofovercoming the limitations of the previous one by involving anexperimental induction of participation in a demonstration and byincluding a randomized control group. This study examined bothdirect effects of participation in collective gatherings and the media-tional role of perceived emotional synchrony and shared flow onidentity fusion and collective self-esteem.

Effects of participation in collective events were assessed asfollows:

• Identity Fusion was evaluated in Studies 2 and 4 using ameasure of fusion with the specific in-group;

• Social integration was addressed in Studies 1 and 2 witha scale assessing the feeling of belonging and in Study 3with a scale assessing perceived social support;

Figure 1. Psychosocial effect of participation in collective gatherings.

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• Positive affect was evaluated with items of positive andnegative 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 inStudy 1, a scale of collective efficacy in Study 2, and acollective self-esteem scale in Study 4; and

• Endorsement of social beliefs was measured in Studies 1and 2 using a scale assessing basic beliefs about the worldand society and a scale assessing beliefs in a just world,and in Study 3 using a scale assessing endorsement of thegroup’s values.

Study 1: Pseudomilitary Folkloric Marches in Belgium

This study focused on an important folk tradition that hascontinued since the Middle Ages in over 80 Belgian cities. Everyyear, during festivities lasting several days, religious processionsaccompanied by large groups of “walkers” move through thecountryside surrounding the town. Walkers include several hun-dred local inhabitants wearing historical military uniforms, bearingold weapons, and marching in synchrony like military units. Theytrain all year, and at the time of the festivities they escort religiousprocessions over long distances. For participants, such ritualsrepresent symbolic moments of high emotional impact. In line withDurkheim’s model, compared with control nonwalkers from thesame region, we expected walkers to manifest higher levels ofsocial integration, positive affect, and empowerment, as well asstronger social beliefs after their participation. Additionally, walk-ers who reported stronger feelings of emotional synchrony duringthe event were expected to display these effects to a higher degree.

Method

Participants. At a rehearsal meeting held some days beforethe annual celebration, walkers from the same town (N � 350)were invited to participate in the study by filling out Internet-basedquestionnaires immediately after the celebration. Volunteers pro-vided their e-mail address and received the link to the studyquestionnaire on the day after the celebration. This link was activefor 2 days. In total, 93 walkers (18 females) validly completed allthe study forms within the time allotted. Their mean age was 32.6years (SD � 12.9). With the exception of the perceived emotionalsynchrony scale, the same measures were given at the same timeto a large group of nonwalker respondents belonging to the samesemirural and lower-middle social class as the walkers, but notinvolved with the celebration. These respondents were contactedvia available lists of e-mail addresses and invited to take part in auniversity study being carried out in their region. In total, 324nonwalker participants correctly filled out the questionnaire. Acontrol group of 93 respondents paired for age and sex (18 fe-males, mean age � 34.1 years, SD � 13.5) with walkers was thenextracted from this pool.

Measurements. In this study, four of the five predicted effectsof participation in collective gatherings were assessed: (a) socialintegration using a scale of feelings of belonging, (b) positiveemotions using a scale of positive affect, (c) empowerment usinga scale of self-esteem, and (d) social beliefs using a scale assessingboth basic beliefs about the world and society, and beliefs in a justworld. In addition, the extent to which participants had experi-

enced collective effervescence was evaluated by a scale of “per-ceived emotional synchrony” developed for the purposes of thepresent study.

Social integration. The 10-item scale developed and vali-dated in French by Richer and Vallerand (1998) (ESAS, Echelle duSentiment d=Appartenance Sociale) assessed people’s feelings ofbelonging. It began with the sentence “In my relations with peoplein general, I feel . . .,” followed by 10 adjectives (e.g., “supported,”“united,” and “close to”), each rated on a 7-point scale anchoredwith not at all and very much. Cronbach’s � computed on the 93walkers 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 AnxietyInventory (STAI) (Spielberger, Gorsuch, & Lushene, 1970) in-cluded 10 adjectives assessing positive affect (e.g., I feel “strong,”“poised,” “balanced,” and “thoughtful”) and 10 adjectives assess-ing negative affect (e.g., I feel “scared,” “tense,” “apprehensive,”and “nervous”), rated on 4-point scales (not at all, somewhat,moderately so, and very much so). Separate scores were computedfor positive affect (Cronbach’s � � .93) and for negative affect(Cronbach’s � � .90).

Empowerment. Participants rated 10 items from the Frenchversion (Vallières & Vallerand, 1990) of Rosenberg’s Self-EsteemScale on 7-point scales anchored with strongly disagree andstrongly agree (Cronbach’s � � .85).

Social beliefs. We assessed participants’ social beliefs using ashort 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 be-liefs about the benevolence and meaningfulness of the world (e.g.,“The world is a good place”) and 5 items measuring beliefs in thebenevolence of people (e.g., “People are basically kind and help-ful”; Cronbach’s � � .83). The second scale comprised 5 itemsbased upon Lerner’s (1980) just-world theory (e.g., “On average,the world is just”; Cronbach’s � � .77). Responses were made on7-point scales (1 � strongly disagree and 7 � strongly agree).

Perceived emotional synchrony. An 18-item scale was de-veloped to assess the extent to which participants experienced acondition of emotional effervescence (see Appendix); 7-point re-sponse scales were utilized (1 � not at all and 7 � all of the time).Cronbach’s � calculated for the sample of walkers was satisfac-tory, � �. 94. Nonwalkers did not complete this scale.

Results

A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) comparingwalkers and nonwalkers for the six dependent variables yielded ahighly significant group effect, Wilks’ � F(6, 179) � 6.08, p �.001, �p

2 � .17. Separate comparisons revealed markedly signifi-cant effects for five of the six variables (see Table 1); the twogroups did not differ for negative affect. Walkers scored higherthan nonwalkers on social integration (�p

2 � .07), empowerment(�p

2 � .06), positive affect (�p2 � .12), beliefs in a benevolent world

(�p2 � .10), and beliefs in a just world (�p

2 � .07). All these effectswere in the direction predicted by the first hypothesis, and all thepredictions were supported.

Of course, the study design did not allow us to rule out aselection effect. It was possible that walkers already differed fromcontrol respondents before their participation in the annual cele-

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bration. Therefore, it was critical to test the “collective efferves-cence” hypothesis. According to this hypothesis, walkers whoexperienced greater emotional synchrony with others were ex-pected to report higher social integration, higher positive affect,higher empowerment, and stronger beliefs in a benevolent and justworld by comparison with walkers who did not experience such ahigh degree of emotional synchrony (see Table 2). To test thesepredictions, correlations were calculated between perceived emo-tional 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 withbeliefs in a just world, r(93) � .27, p � .005.

Discussion

All the predictions from Durkheim’s model were supported bythe results of the present study. Compared with control nonpartic-ipants, walkers participating in the folk marches subsequentlyreported enhanced levels of social integration, empowerment, andpositive affect, as well as stronger social beliefs. However, nega-tive affect was not found to be reactive to collective gatherings.This variable probably reflected the ups and downs of stress, andwas only weakly or even not at all related to social support andcognitive changes associated with participation in collective rituals(Páez et al., 2007).

In addition, our analyses corroborated that the intensity of theexperience of perceived emotional synchrony with others pre-dicted the observed effects. Thus, the findings were in line with thehypothesis of a mediating role of perceived emotional synchrony.Our predictions were well supported by the comparison of partic-ipants and nonparticipants in an emotionally involving collectiveevent. Of course, the conclusions that can be drawn from this studywere limited by the absence of random assignment of the studyparticipants to these two conditions and by the lack of baselinemeasurements. Nevertheless, the first study confirmed that partic-

ipation in marches produced the various outcomes predicted byDurkheim’s (1912) model, and that these outcomes were strongerwhen participants experienced higher perceived emotional syn-chrony with others.

Another limitation we should mention concerns the fact that tocompare walkers and nonwalkers, and to guarantee similar samplesizes, we finally included in the study �30% of the initial sampleof nonwalkers paired for age and sex. However, an analysiscomparing nonwalkers who were finally included in the study withthose who were not did not yield significant differences in out-come variables.

Study 2: Pseudomilitary Folkloric Marches in theBasque Country

This study focused on an important folk tradition that hascontinued since the 19th century in the city of San Sebastián in theBasque Country (Spain). Every year, in the Tamborrada, or col-lective drum marches, processions accompanied by large groups of“drummers” invade the streets of the town for a 24 hr-long cele-bration. The procession involves several thousand local peoplewho train all year and wear Napoleonic-style military uniformswhile parading. They play drums, march in synchrony imitatingmilitary units like the walkers in Study 1, and sing traditionalsongs in chorus. For these walkers, as for all the inhabitants of SanSebastián, this celebration involves symbolic moments of highemotional impact.

The purpose of the study was to replicate Study 1, this timeusing longitudinal observations. Thus, 2 days before and 2 daysafter the Tamborrada, participants completed questionnaires mea-suring the positive outcome expected from their participation, thatis, their social integration, positive affect, empowerment, andsocial beliefs. In addition, on the afternoon following the Tambo-

Table 2Comparison of Walkers Who Reported High and Low PerceivedEmotional Synchrony (Study 1)

Walkers

F(91) p �Dependent variables

Low PES(N � 46)

High PES(N � 47)

Social integrationM 4.70 5.71SD 0.98 0.83 29.13 .000

Self-esteemM 5.54 5.70SD 0.93 0.83 0.81 .371

Positive affectM 5.21 5.57SD 0.97 1.11 2.75 .101

Negative affectM 2.45 2.65SD 1.12 1.40 0.58 .448

Beliefs - benevolenceM 4.21 4.68SD 0.96 1.20 4.24 .042

Beliefs - justiceM 3.59 4.17SD 0.92 1.18 6.98 .010

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

Table 1Comparison of Walkers and Nonwalkers for the VariousDependent Variables (Study 1)

Walkers NonwalkersF (184) p �Dependent variables (N � 93) (N � 93)

Social integrationM 5.21 4.71SD 1.04 0.83 13.39 .000

Self-esteemM 5.62 5.19SD 0.88 0.86 11.64 .001

Positive affectM 5.39 4.63SD 1.06 1.05 24.59 .000

Negative affectM 2.55 2.82SD 1.26 1.27 2.09 .150

Beliefs - benevolenceM 4.45 3.78SD 1.10 0.93 20.05 .000

Beliefs - justiceM 3.88 3.33SD 1.09 0.87 14.67 .000

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rrada, all participants filled out the scale measuring their experi-ence of emotional synchrony in this folkloric event. In line withDurkheim’s emotional effervescence concept, the hypothesis wasthat compared with their lower-emotional-synchrony counterparts,participants in the Tamborrada who experienced higher emotionalsynchrony during the celebration would report higher levels ofsocial integration, of personal well-being and of social beliefs aftertheir participation, controlling for baseline or pre-event measure-ments for these dependent measures.

Furthermore, in this study we directly accounted for identityfusion, a currently important concept in this field, and that ad-dresses feelings of fusion with the group. According to Swann etal. (2012), fused subjects experience highly permeable bordersbetween their personal and their social selves. Such porous bordersencourage people to channel their personal agency into groupbehavior, raising the possibility that the personal and the social selfwill combine synergistically to motivate progroup behavior(Swann et al., 2012). These authors suggested that an importantcontextual source of identity fusion was to be found in the sharingof bonding experiences with others and in participating in affec-tively loaded social rituals. Our participants thus responded threetimes—before, during, and after the Tamborrada—to the pictorialmeasure used by Swann, Gómez, Seyle, Morales, and Huici (2009)to assess the experience of identity fusion. In line with Durkheim’sviews about the effects of collective effervescence in the midst ofcollective behavior, we expected identity fusion scores to illus-trate: (a) a climactic increase during the Tamborrada, (b) a relativedecrease after the event, and (c) a higher level after the eventcompared with before it.

Additionally, the study included a measure of optimal experi-ence or “flow” (Csíkszentmihályi, 1990). As mentioned in ourintroduction, Schiepe-Tiska and Engerser (2011) showed evidenceof overlap between shared optimal experience and perceived emo-tional synchrony in the context of collective synchronized perfor-mance. Athletes reported flow in team sports as resulting fromunison movements, shared focus of attention, positive team inter-action, and feeling part of the group. Furthermore, experiencingflow in a social context contributed to dissolving the psychologicalcontours that usually separate individuals. They become “fused”with the group (Gómez et al., 2011). Thus, both shared flow andperceived emotional synchrony could account for the positiveoutcomes of collective gatherings, including identity fusion. Oursecond study examined the respective associations of flow and ofperceived emotional synchrony with the various outcome mea-sures. This allowed us to specify whether the variables measuringthe positive outcomes of collective gatherings lie in the individualexperience of flow and of absorption in a rewarding and challeng-ing activity, or rather in the shared collective behavioral andemotional experience.

Method

Participants. Town Hall officials and coordinators of folk-loric companies were contacted to recruit volunteers among peoplewho would participate in the Tamborrada held on January 20,2013. In total, 478 participants were initially recruited and 330volunteered to complete all three questionnaires (70%). Of these,44.4% were female, they covered an age range of 18 to 75 (M �40.26 years, SD � 12.16), and most of them (82.3%) were resi-

dents of San Sebastián. Encrypted personal e-mails were used tocollect data online at the three different measurement times.

Measures. In this study, fusion with the in-group was evalu-ated using Swann et al.’s (2009) measure of identity fusion, andresponses were collected first, 2 days before the Tamborrada, next,on the afternoon it took place, and finally 2 days after it. Socialintegration was evaluated by the same feeling of belonging scale asused in Study 1. Empowerment was addressed through a scale ofperceived efficacy of the group. Social beliefs and perceivedemotional synchrony were assessed as in Study 1. Social integra-tion, empowerment and social beliefs measures were collected 2days before and again 2 days after the Tamborrada. Positive affectwas evaluated by both the Fredrickson (2009) positivity scale anda scale indexing happiness. Shared flow was evaluated by anadaptation of the Flow State Scale (Jackson & Marsh, 1996).Finally, participants also rated a single item assessing theirlevel of involvement in the social event. Flow, positive affectand involvement measures were collected on the afternoon ofthe Tamborrada.

Identity fusion. A pictographic measure (Swann et al., 2009)was used to assess the experience of fusion with the group oridentity fusion with the other participants. Five pictures showeddifferent 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 Tambor-rada, participants chose the diagram “that best describes the rela-tionship between you and the other participants in the event.”

Social integration. As in Study 1, the 10-item feeling ofbelonging scale developed by Richer and Vallerand (1998) as-sessed participants’ perception of social integration (Cronbach’s�s of .96 and .98, respectively, before and after the Tamborrada).

Positive-negative emotions. Participants rated the extent towhich during the day of the Tamborrada they felt (0 � not at allto 4 � very much) each of 20 emotions (10 positive, 10 negative)on a scale used by previous research to calculate an emotionalpositivity ratio (Fredrickson, 2009). In the present sample, Cron-bach’s � was .86 and .87, for positive and negative emotions,respectively.

Happiness Index. The Pemberton Happiness Index (PHI;Vázquez & Hervás, 2013) contained 11 items rated from 0 �disagree strongly to 10 � agree strongly and examining general,eudaimonic, hedonic, and social well-being, yielding a singlewell-being index. Cronbach’s � was .89 and .92 before and afterthe Tamborrada, respectively.

Collective efficacy. A short, 4-item version was adapted fromthe CEQS-Collective Efficacy Questionnaire for Sports (RománMartínez, Guillén, & Feltz, 2011), assessing respondents’ per-ceived efficacy of the group (0 to 10) with which they performeda sports activity. Reliability coefficients were .91 at the pre-eventand .92 at the postevent evaluation.

Social beliefs. Participants’ social beliefs were assessed usinga short 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 thepre-event and .85 at the postevent evaluation.

Perceived emotional synchrony. On the afternoon after theTamborrada, participants completed the 18-item scale alreadyused in Study 1 (see Appendix). Cronbach’s � for this samplereached .97.

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Shared flow or collective optimal experience. A collectiveversion of the Flow State Scale (Jackson & Marsh, 1996) wasdeveloped with 27 items (1 � not at all, 5 � very much) focusingon the group experience by regular use of the first person plural(e.g., “Our abilities matched the high challenge of the situation”).Cronbach’s � was .95.

Level of involvement. Participants answered the question“How intense was your participation in the Tamborrada?” using aresponse scale ranging from 1 (not at all) to 7 (very much).

Results

Multiple regressions were calculated using pre-event or baselinemeasurements as predictors, perceived emotional synchrony andshared flow as mediating variables, and level of involvement as theindependent variable. To test the mediational effects, we used theSPSS macro for bootstrapping indirect effects (Hayes & Preacher,2014), which provides indirect effect estimates for mediators, SEs,and the confidence intervals (CIs) derived from the bootstrapdistribution. Bootstrapped CIs are superior to standard forms ofestimating SEs of indirect effects. An indirect effect is significantif the CI does not include 0 values.

Identity fusion, social integration, affect, collective efficacy, andsocial beliefs were dependent variables (see Table 3 for means forhigh- and low-level emotional synchrony). A general increase wasobserved from pre-event to postevent measurements and, as ex-pected, baseline measurements predicted posttest scores. Positiveemotions were higher and negative emotions were lower in par-ticipants with higher levels of perceived emotional synchrony by

comparison with those who reported lower levels (see Table 3).More important, regression and multiple mediational analyses withHayes and Preacher’s (2014) procedures (n boots � 5,000) con-trolling for pre-event scores showed that perceived emotionalsynchrony predicted higher values for all the dependent variables,whereas shared flow did so for only one of them.

Indeed, high perceived emotional synchrony walkers reportedstronger feelings of fusion 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, highercollective efficacy, B � .24, t � 3.18, p � .001, and a morepositive or benevolent and just perception of the world, B � .07,

t � 2.90, p � .003. Shared flow showed a significant predictivecoefficient only for collective efficacy, B � .50, t � 4.07, p � .001(see also Table 3 for means for high and low emotional syn-chrony). Perceived emotional synchrony mediated the effect oflevel of involvement, reducing the coefficient of level on out-comes, as well as showing an indirect effect of level on outcomesthrough perceived emotional synchrony for feelings of fusion withthe group (B � .06, SE � .02, CI [.03, .10]), for perceived socialintegration (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 percep-tion of the world (B � .03, SE � .01, CI [.01, .06]), although theindirect effect through flow was not significant, with the exceptionof collective efficacy (B � .14, SE � .05, CI [.06, .24]). Eventhough flow and perceived emotional synchrony correlatedstrongly (r(319) � .71, p � .001), and were both linked to identityfusion, (r(319) � .49, p � .05 and r(319) � .56, p � .001,respectively), the results of a mediational analysis supported thehypothesis of a greater importance of emotional synchrony com-pared with flow.

A repeated-measures ANOVA was also used to assess thehypothesis regarding identity fusion scores. The time effect wassignificant for these scores. Indeed, the quadratic component wassignificant, F(1, 134) � 46.14, p � .001, �p

2 � .12, showing thatthe feeling of fusion with the group was climactically higherduring the folkloric march. In addition, as predicted, although theidentity fusion scores decreased after the event, they remainedhigher than they had been before it. Furthermore, though theinteraction of the quadratic time effect of high versus low emo-tional fusion was only marginally significant, F(1, 134) � 2.84,p � .09, �p

2 � .009, Figure 2 shows that identity fusion scoresremained at a high level after the folkloric march, particularlywhen emotional fusion was high.

Discussion

This longitudinal study confirmed the hypothesis that participa-tion in a collective emotional gathering associated with high emo-tional synchrony enhanced participants’ feelings of group belong-ing and social integration, increased their positive affect asmeasured by a happiness scale as well as their collective efficacy,and reinforced their positive social representations or shared socialbeliefs. More important, the results confirmed that collective gath-erings enhanced identity fusion, or merging of the personal andcollective self. Such effects were particularly strong during theclimactic enacting of the collective celebration, confirming that, asproposed by Durkheim, “collective effervescence” yields effects of

Table 3Positive Affect, Social Integration, Identity Fusion, and SocialBeliefs by High and Low Perceived Emotional Synchrony (PES)in Drummers, Using Pretest as Covariate (Study 2)

Drummers

F (1, 314) p �Dependent variablesLow PES(N � 165)

High PES(N � 154)

Happiness IndexM 5.66 6.32SD 1.34 1.15 33.49 .001

Positive emotionsM 3.56 4.31SD .55 .45 180.61 .001

Negative emotionsM 1.31 1.22SD .42 .28 4.58 .033

Social supportM 5.18 5.77SD 1.01 .91 35.73 .001

Collective efficacyM 7.06 8.91SD 1.83 1.47 25.91 .001

Identity fusionM 3.84 4.17SD 1.15 0.92 21.77 .001

Social beliefsM 3.44 3.67SD 0.56 0.54 12.3 .001

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

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reinforcement of social identity. These effects were also found toremain higher after the event than they were before it.

The results of this study also supported our prediction regardingthe interrelationships between identity fusion as assessed by theidentity fusion scale, perceived emotional synchrony with others,and experience of flow or optimal experience in the context ofperformance involving group synchronization. All three variableswere linked, with especially marked ties between the latter two. Inaddition, all the various positive effects hypothesized byDurkheim’s model for participation in a collective emotional gath-ering were specifically found in relation to the collective experi-ence of synchronization. Indeed, when flow was the independentvariable, a significant effect emerged for collective efficacy alone,suggesting that optimal experience has an effect related mainly tomastery of milieu.

Furthermore, even though effects on social beliefs were found inthis study as in Study 1, both studies examined positively valencedand strictly “entertaining” events, thus being devoid of referencesto any symbolically loaded ideology. The next study investigatednegatively valenced collective gatherings involving major socialand symbolic issues. Participants in such events were comparedwith control participants who had been involved in collectivegatherings 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 heldwithin the context of a major social movement. Such collectivegatherings usually involve both positively and negatively valencedcomponents (Klandermans, 1997; Thomas, McGarty, & Mavor,2009). On the positive side, protest participants reframe a socialissue as a solvable problem and they share feelings of collectiveefficacy and hopes for social change, as well as prosocial and

altruistic ideals and values. On the negative side, protest partici-pants express feelings of anger, moral outrage, and social shame,and they may even display extreme negative emotions such as hateand aggressiveness.

The research focused on a large-scale protest movement thatarose spontaneously at La Puerta del Sol, the central square ofMadrid (Spain), in the spring of 2011. Large crowds began occu-pying the square to express their dissent at the declining economicand social situation of their country. As the movement started upon May 15, 2011, it was referred to in Spain as the “15-M”movement. It preceded the “Occupy Wall Street” rallies that beganon September 17, 2011, in Zuccotti Park in New York City’s WallStreet district and in which analogous concerns were expressed.The 15-M movement quickly spread to other Spanish cities, takingthe form of day and night occupation of public places by numerousprotesters. It was accompanied by intensive social interactioninvolving the discussion of sociopolitical issues between partici-pants. Though quite heterogeneous in their origins and socialstatus, these participants had in common a strong rejection ofSpanish politicians and firm support for what they viewed asfundamental rights, such as housing, work, culture, health, andeducation.

As a first hypothesis, we predicted that participants in thesepolitical demonstrations, compared with control nonpartici-pants, would report higher levels of perceived emotional syn-chrony with others, higher levels of emotions related to socialmobilization, and higher social integration. Second, we ex-pected that the more participants perceived themselves as beingin synchrony with the other participants during the demonstra-tions, the more they would manifest the predicted positiveeffects. They were expected to report enhanced emotions re-lated to social mobilization and higher levels of social integra-tion. Third, we expected that participants, compared with non-participants, would report greater endorsement of social beliefsand values related to the 15-M social movement. Moreover,among these participants, higher perceived emotional syn-chrony during the event would be related to higher endorsementof these social beliefs and values.

Method

Participants. The data were collected in two successivewaves. In the first of these, 242 participants were recruited, ofwhom 140 reported being involved in the 15-M movement and 102were controls who responded in relation to some recent groupactivity in which they had taken part. In the second wave, 136more participants were recruited: 59 had participated in 15-M and77 completed the forms in reference to some other group activity.The purpose of the second wave was to increase the number ofparticipants as well as to ask questions about items that were notincluded in the first wave. Age range for the two waves was 17 to68 (M � 29.47, SD � 11.79), and 45.4% were males. Participantswere residents of Madrid (34.2%), of Barcelona (22.1%), or of theBasque Country (43.7%). Among them, 34.9% were currentlyemployed, 41.2% were university students, 16.4% were unem-ployed or retired, and 1.7% were housewives. Nearly half of them(45.6%) held a university degree, and 61.2% had received highereducation of some kind. The vast majority were single (83.7%) andSpanish nationals (86%). The group activities referred to by par-

Figure 2. Identity fusion with the group; before, during and after (Study 2).

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ticipants in their answers to the study involved 15-M (52.6%),get-togethers with friends and family (25.9%), trade union meet-ings (6.9%), sports team activities (4.6%), concerts (1.5%), andother activities (8.5%).

Procedure. Participants were contacted during the month ofJune 2011 by research collaborators either at locations whereprotesters gathered or on college and university campuses. Theresearch collaborator invited the persons contacted to completea short research questionnaire for a university study aboutparticipation in social gatherings. Volunteers were then firstasked whether they participated in the mass events related to the15-M movement. Those who answered negatively were in-structed as follows: “Think of the most important group activityin which you have participated in the last 15 days.” This optionwas used so as to set up a comparison group of respondents whoalso participated in social gatherings, but which were devoid ofthe intensive symbolic and societal character of the 15-Mmovement. After the initial question for categorizing them inthe two groups, 15-M and control respondents both answeredthe study questionnaires on the street. Therefore, the question-naire had to be limited in length. During the first data-collectionwave, participants rated (a) their positive and negative emo-tional responses to the social gathering (hope, anger), (b) theirperceived emotional synchronization with the other participantsin that gathering, and (c) their level of social integration as-sessed through perceived social support. As mentioned above, asecond wave of data was collected to amplify the sample size(there were no significant differences between participants inthese two waves). In this second wave, participants rated thesame three scales and, in addition, filled out a short question-naire assessing their adhesion to values (six items).

Measures. In this study, emotions were evaluated by partici-pants’ ratings of scales assessing two emotions related to socialmobilization, that is, hope and anger/indignation. A scale of socialsupport measured social integration and a scale of values assessedsocial beliefs.

Emotional responses. Participants’ emotional responses tothe social assembly they referred to were measured using twoitems (Páez et al., 2007) assessing the extent to which, in thissituation, they experienced “anger or moral outrage” and “hope”(on a 7-point rating scale ranging from 1 � not at all to 7 � verymuch).

Social integration. Participants indicated on 4-point scalesthe extent to which they disagreed (1) or agreed (4) with each ofthe three items in the short version of the Vaux Subjective SocialSupport Scale (Vaux et al., 1986; e.g., “I have strong affectivebonds with my friends”). The scale yielded a Cronbach’s � of .87.

Social beliefs. Participants rated the extent to which theyendorsed six values among those openly promoted by the 15-Mmovement. Each of these six values—solidarity, freedom, dignity,participation, social justice, and equity—were rated on a 7-pointscale ranging from 1 � not at all to 7 � very much. Reliability wassatisfactory, � � .86.

Perceived emotional synchrony. A shortened (7-item) ver-sion of the scale used in Studies 1 and 2 was adopted (e.g., “Iexperienced a strong group emotion or feeling”). It yielded satis-factory reliability, � � .90.

Results

Hypotheses 1 and 2 were tested using the data collected in thefirst wave, and Hypothesis 3 (adherence to social beliefs) wastested using the data collected in the second wave. The predictionsof Hypothesis 1 were almost entirely supported. Participants in the15-M political demonstrations reported higher perceived syn-chrony with others (M � 5.21, SD � 1.23) than participants whoresponded in reference to other types of gatherings (M � 4.30,SD � 1.34), t(228) � 5.28, p � .001, d � .77. Furthermore, 15-Mparticipants reported higher levels of negative feelings (anger ormoral 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 move-ments, 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 forperception of social support.

To test Hypothesis 2 on the mediation of perceived emotionalsynchrony, multiple regressions were carried out using 15-M par-ticipation versus nonparticipation as independent variables. Hayesand Preacher’s (2014) procedures were used to test whether therelationship between participation and social support, emotions(hope and anger), and social beliefs were mediated by perceivedemotional synchrony (see Figure 3a, b, c, and d). As shown inFigures 3a and b, there was a significant indirect effect of partic-ipation 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 perceivedemotional synchrony was taken into account, the association ofparticipation with hope decreased partially—but remained signif-icant. Perceived social support was higher in participants with highemotional synchrony, M � 3.57, SD � .54, than in participantswith low emotional synchrony, M � 3.30, SD � .60, F(1, 224) �12.9, p � .001, �p

2 � .055. Participants with high emotionalsynchrony also reported stronger hope in reference to the move-ment, M � 4.89, SD � .26, than low emotional synchrony partic-ipants, M � 4.18, SD � .20, F(1, 224) � 8.97, p � .003, �p

2 � .04.Finally, as shown in Figure 3c, a weak direct effect of perceivedemotional synchrony on anger was found, whereas the indirecteffect was nonsignificant (B � .09, SE � .06, CI [.01, .22]).High and low emotional synchrony groups differed on anger, inaccordance with the mediation analysis.

Using the data obtained from the second wave to test Hypothesis 3,we examined how participation in 15-M, compared with participationin other social gatherings, was associated with greater endorsement ofsocial beliefs and of values advocated by the 15-M movement. Asexpected, t test comparisons showed that 15-M participants sharedthe social beliefs represented by the 15-M movement to a greaterextent 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, wethen examined how far perceived emotional synchrony correlatedwith the endorsement of 15-M values. As predicted, the more15-M participants had experienced emotional synchrony duringthe collective events, the stronger was their endorsement of thevarious 15-M related values: solidarity, r(59) � .44, p � .001,

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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 analysiswas performed with a global index for all social beliefs (see Figure3d). It yielded a significant direct and indirect effect (B � .14,SE � .05, CI [.06, .25]) of participation on social beliefs throughperceived emotional synchrony.

Discussion

In line with Hypothesis 1, the results revealed that comparedwith controls, participation in a protest movement was associatedwith stronger perceived emotional synchrony with others, as wellas with stronger personal emotions such as hope and anger.

Confirming Hypothesis 2, higher perceived emotional syn-chrony with others was related to higher perceived social support,and wholly mediated the association between participation andsocial integration. A similar pattern was found when hope was thedependent variable, however, in this case, perceived emotionalsynchrony mediated the effect only partially. Hope was related toboth personal and collective efficacy as well as to framing thesocial issue as a solvable problem, which fueled social mobiliza-tion (Fredrickson, 2009). Anger or moral outrage led to framingthe social problem as injustice, which also drove social mobiliza-tion (O’Mara, Jackson, Batson, & Gaertner, 2011). These resultswere congruent with evidence from a meta-analysis carried out byvan Zomeren, Postmes, and Spears (2008) that affective variablessurpassed nonaffective ones as predictors of collective action.Thus, the correlational findings of the present study were support-ive of Durkheim’s (1912) view that the social sharing of emotionelicited by collective gatherings results in both enhanced socialintegration and heightened social mobilization, and that emotionssuch as collective anger play an important role in this respect.

Finally, as predicted by Hypothesis 3, emotional synchronyexperienced during the 15-M demonstrations was markedly asso-ciated 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 suchas values. This observation fits with one of Durkheim’s (1912)major ideas, according to which social or collective representationssuch as cultural values are nourished by and anchored upon emo-tions elicited by collective gatherings.

Study 4: Experimentally InducedProtest Demonstration

While the consistency of the results yielded by the three pre-ceding studies provides arguments in favor of our hypothesesderived from Durkheim’s model, they lack the convincing evi-dence that could be offered by studies using an experimentaldesign involving appropriate control. Of course, performing anexperimental manipulation in a collective context constitutes aserious challenge. The study described here represented an attemptin that direction. Participants were randomly assigned to either anexperimentally induced collective protest demonstration or to acontrol individual activity executed in the simple copresence ofothers. Dependent measures involved collective self-esteem, feel-ing of fusion with the group, perceived emotional synchrony, andexperience of flow. We expected the protest demonstrators to scorehigher than the control participants on all four variables. Previousstudies have shown that flow experienced in a social situationelicited joyful experiences at a higher level than solitary flow(Walker, 2010), but it remained unspecified whether the observedpositive outcomes were attributable to the experience of flow, or toperceived emotional synchrony, or to both at the same time. In thepresent study, our aim was to specify how far each of thesevariables correlated positively with the positive outcomes.

Method

Participants. Participants were 42 students enrolled on acourse in Social Work (81% females) at the University of theBasque Country, who all took part voluntarily. Mean age was21.69 (SD � 3.78). They agreed to take part in the experiment and

Figure 3. Mediating role of perceived emotional synchrony (PES) in predicting enhancement of (a) socialsupport, (b) hope, (c) anger, and (d) social beliefs among 15 participants in comparison to others (Study 3). Note:Nonstandardized regression coefficients are presented. Numbers in parentheses refer to the after the mediatorswere added to the regression equation (direct effect); � p � .06. � p � .05. �� p � .01. �� p � .001.

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to complete the study forms at three different time points relativeto the main action—1 week before, during the event, and 1 weekafter.

Procedure. Participants took part in an action presented as acontribution to a proimmigrant campaign organized by a localNGO called “SOS Racism.” Their contribution involved imaginingand creating banners with antiracist slogans for use during the SOSRacism outreach action in which they would subsequently takepart. Participants were then randomly assigned to execute thisaction either collectively (experimental condition, N � 21) orindividually, but in the presence of other participants (controlcondition, N � 21). In the experimental condition, participants firstworked with their group to come up with the slogans. They werethen instructed to exhibit the prepared slogans on protest bannerson the university campus during an improvised demonstration heldin public and filmed by an experimenter. In the control condition,participants were assembled in a classroom and seated at individ-ual desks. Each of them had to come up with antiracist slogansindividually. Once ready, these control participants were requiredto upload (again individually) their slogans on an Internet demon-stration platform, without participating in any public collectivedemonstration. Collective self-esteem and identity fusion with thegroup were assessed first 1 week before the action and then for asecond time 1 week after the action. Identity fusion with the groupwas again assessed immediately after the end of the collective orindividual action, together with measures of flow and of perceivedemotional synchrony.

Measures. In this study, social identity was measured by theidentity fusion scale, empowerment by a collective self-esteemscale, and mediation processes by the previously used scales ofperceived emotional synchrony and of shared flow.

Identity fusion. The pictographic measure of “Identity fusionwith the group” (Swann et al., 2009) was used as in Study 2 toassess the experience of oneness with the other participants in thecourse of the collective or individual action.

Empowerment. Participants responded to a brief, 3-item ver-sion of the private subscale of the collective self-esteem scale(Luhtanen & Crocker, 1992), using 7-point scales (1 � disagreestrongly to 7 � agree strongly). Cronbach’s � was .77 at pre- and.85 at postevaluation.

Perceived emotional synchrony. The extended 18-item ver-sion of the scale of perceived emotional synchrony with the otherparticipants in the course of the collective or individual activitywas used, as in Studies 1 and 2. Reliability was satisfactory, � �.87.

Flow or optimal experience. A short version (18 items) of theFlow State Scale (FFS; Jackson & Marsh, 1996), based on itsSpanish translation (García Calvo, Jiménez Castuera, Santos-RosaRuano, Reina Vaíllo, & Cervelló Gimeno, 2008), was used toassess participants’ experience of flow during the course of thecollective or individual action. This short version contained twoitems for each of the nine dimensions of optimal experience. Theresponse scale ranged from 1 (completely disagree) to 5 (com-pletely agree). Cronbach’s � was .90 for the total sample.

Results

To compare the experimental and control groups, baseline orpretest scores were used as covariables and multiple regressions

were run on each of the two dependent variables, that is, collectiveself-esteem and identity fusion. Multiple regression as well asHayes and Preacher’s (2014) procedures were used to test themediation of emotional synchrony and flow. Both variables com-pletely mediated the effect of participation on collective self-esteem, which was no longer significant after the inclusion of themediators. However, as observed in Figure 4, only flow showed asignificant indirect effect on collective self-esteem (B � .35, SE �.23, CI [1.02, .04]).

A complementary analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) revealedsignificant differences between the experimental and control groupsfor collective self-esteem, F(1, 41) � 3.97, p � .05, �p

2 � .092, foridentity fusion with the group experienced during the activity, F(1,41) � 7.37, p � .01, �p

2 � .159, and for identity fusion with the groupassessed 1 week after the activity, F(1, 41) � 5.13, p � .029, �p

2 �.116. Although the control group showed no change for collectiveself-esteem (Mbefore � 5.10, SD � .86 and Mafter � 5.10, SD � .82)or for identity fusion (Mbefore � 3.70, SD � .71 and Mafter � 3.76,SD � .70), the experimental group showed an increase in bothcollective self-esteem (Mbefore � 5.27, SD � 1.02 and Mafter � 5.62,SD � .86) and identity fusion (Mbefore � 3.87, SD � .94 and Mafter �4.23, SD � .62; see Figure 5).

Respondents who took part in a collective activity reportedhigher perceived emotional synchrony (M � 5.87, SD � .66) thanrespondents who were involved in an individual one (M � 4.99,SD � .81), F(1, 41) � 14.66, p �.001, �p

2 � .268. Flow was alsohigher in the collective activity (M � 8.16, SD � .98) than in theindividual one (M � 7.23, SD � 1.02), F(1, 41) � 8.96, p �.005,�p

2 � .183. The correlation between flow and perceived emotionalsynchrony was substantial, r(42) � .82, p � .001. In the collectivecondition, perceived emotional synchrony showed a significantcorrelation with identity fusion, r(21) � .54, p � .01. However,

Figure 4. Mediating role of perceived emotional synchrony (PES) andflow in predicting collective self-esteem enhancement (controlled for base-line or pretest) after participation in collective versus individual condition(Study 4). Note: Nonstandardized regression coefficients are presented.Numbers in parentheses refer to the after the mediators were added to theregression equation (direct effect); � p � .05. �� p � .01. �� p � .001.

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the correlation between the latter variable and flow failed to reachsignificance, r(21) � .19, p � .20.

Discussion

This experimental study supported the major points ofDurkheim’s model, showing that involvement in a collective gath-ering elicited identity fusion and group integration. After partici-pating in the action, collective self-esteem and identity fusion withthe group increased in the collective condition compared to thecontrol condition. Moreover, perceived emotional synchrony andflow were higher during a collective activity than during theindividual one, confirming Walker’s (2010) findings. Despite hav-ing low degrees of freedom in this study, perceived emotionalsynchrony correlated with flow and with identity fusion experi-enced during demonstrations. However, flow was not related toidentity fusion—the latter being significantly associated only withperceived synchrony and with emotional contagion. Finally, theseexperimental results confirmed the profile of Study 2 with respectto identity fusion. Indeed, collective emotional gatherings wereseen to enhance identity fusion or the merging of the personal andthe collective self. Such effects were particularly strong during theclimax of enacting the collective action, in support of the notion of“collective effervescence” proposed by Durkheim. However, theyalso remained higher after the collective event compared with theirlevel before it.

Complementary Analysis: Meta-Analytical Integration

The studies reported in this article allowed us to assess globallythe predicted effects of emotional involvement elicited amongparticipants in collective gatherings. We examined across our fourstudies how far assessments of perceived emotional synchronywith other participants supported the critical role attributed byDurkheim to a collective experience of emotional communion.

More specifically, first, we hypothesized that participation in acollective gathering aimed at increasing participants’ sense ofunion with others would positively influence their social integra-tion, strengthen their positive affect, enhance their empowerment,and reinforce their social beliefs. This hypothesis was tested inStudies 1, 3, and 4. Table 4 shows point biserial correlations aseffect sizes of associations across these studies between participa-tion (score � 2) and nonparticipation (score � 1) and the variousdependent variables relevant to Hypothesis 1. As can be seen fromthis table, all the predicted associations were significant, with onlyone exception: perceived social support was not higher amongparticipants in sociopolitical demonstrations than in respondentswho took part in less emotionally involved social gatherings.Overall, these results support our first hypothesis. They show thatby comparison with nonparticipation, participation in collectivegatherings caused (Study 4) or was associated with (Studies 1 and3) the expected positive psychosocial outcomes.

Second, in line with a central tenet of Durkheim’s theory, wehypothesized that the more participants experienced emotionalsynchrony in the collective situation, the stronger the variouspositive effects considered by the model would be. This secondhypothesis was strongly supported across the four studies, as canbe seen in Table 5. This table displays correlations as effect size ofassociations between our participants’ scores for perceived emo-tional synchrony, on the one hand, and the dependent variablesassessed in the different studies, on the other. Thus, whether theyreferred to participants in folkloric marches or to demonstrators ina sociopolitical conflict, the results consistently supported ourview that a higher level of perceived emotional synchrony amongparticipants in the collective event predicts higher levels in all fourtypes of positive outcomes measured after the event. Although inStudy 1 (folkloric marches in Belgium) and in Study 3 (real-lifeprotest demonstration) the evidence in this respect was weakenedby an absence of baseline measurements of the dependent vari-ables before the event, this was not the case for Study 2 (Tambo-

Table 4Correlation as Effect Size Between Participation in CollectiveGatherings Versus Nonparticipation and the Various OutcomeVariables in Studies 1, 3, and 4

Variable and studyCorrelation with

participation

Identity fusionFusion with the group (Study 4) r(42) � .34��

Social integrationSocial integration (Study 1) r(186) � .26��

Perceived social support (Study 3) r(238) � .02Positive affect Weighted r � .34

Positive affect (STAI, Study 1) r(186) � .34��

Positive emotion (Hope, Study 3) r(238) � .35��

Empowerment Weighted r � .26Individual self-esteem (Study 1) r(186) � .24��

Collective self-esteem (Study 4) r(42) � .35��

Social beliefs and values Weighted r � .35Benevolent and just world (Study 1) r(186) � .32��

Values (Study 3) r(132) � .40��

Note. Weighted average correlation coefficients are based on Rosenthal(1991).† p � .10. � p � .05. �� p � .01.

Figure 5. Identity fusion with the group; before, during and after (Study 4).

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rrada), or for Study 4 (experimentally induced protest demonstra-tion). In each of the latter two studies, the use of pretestmeasurements as covariates in multiple regressions allowed us toneutralize the impact of pre-existing differences among our par-ticipants. Thus, it can be safely concluded that the higher theexperience of perceived emotional synchrony in a collective event,the higher the level of participants’ identity fusion, social integra-tion, positive affect, and empowerment, and the greater theirendorsement of socially shared values. These findings were con-gruent with those showing that emotions both strengthen previousbeliefs and support the formation of new ones, and that positiveemotions strengthen basic beliefs about the benevolence of theworld (van Cappellen, Saroglou, Iweins, Piovesana, & Fredrick-son, 2013).

The results of Studies 2 and 4 showed that during the course ofa collective event, perceived emotional synchrony and flow statewere strongly associated, and both correlated markedly with iden-tity fusion with the group. This profile of results confirms theexistence of close links between identification with the group,shared emotions, and flow or absorption in the coordinated behav-ior during the collective activity. When experiencing a state offlow, members of a group concurrently identified more stronglywith the group and experienced a stronger emotional bond withtheir coparticipants. Group flow as developed among marchers anddemonstrators stimulated the synchronicity between participantsand 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 Bia-sutti’s (2011) claim that in collective or group flow:

Sharing emotions and feelings with the other members of the group isimportant, in order to synchronize mentally and generate groupstrength. During flow performance there is attunement to self andother. The connection between group and individual flow creates aninteresting dynamic in which the group flow provides energy to theindividuals which in turn generates individual flow back to the group.(p. 526)

The present studies contributed to extending the empirical doc-umentation on the concept of flow. In Studies 2 and 4 in whichflow and perceived emotional synchrony were measured concur-rently, the latter variable was strongly associated with all positiveoutcomes, whereas this was not the case for flow, which wasassociated only with collective efficacy in Study 2 and showed anindirect effect on collective self-esteem in Study 4. This evidenceleads us to conclude that by reinforcing efficacy and esteem at acollective level, shared flow essentially entails empowerment ef-fects. This fits the view that an optimal-experience activity bolstersskills and induces growth. Such results suggest that, much morethan absorption in a positive experience, it is the socially sharedbehavioral and emotional experience in a collective event thatmatters with regard to global positive outcomes such as identityfusion with the group.

In fact, whereas perceived emotional synchrony emerged asstrongly related to identity fusion and social integration, flow wasobserved to be related first and foremost to positive affect, whilealso demonstrating an effect on collective self-esteem in Study 4.This suggests that the optimal experience has mainly positiveindividual and affective effects, while the socially shared facet(i.e., perceived synchrony) active in collective contexts impactssocial variables such as social integration.

We recognize that our studies are limited as regards experimen-tal evidence. Induction of individual versus collective gatheringswith similar content was our only experimental design, and moreexperiments of this type are needed. Another kind of design thatwe are exploring consists in exposing participants either to videosof relevant collective gatherings (demonstrations, “patriotic na-tionalist” parades, and so on) or to control videos with a neutralcharacter. However, even if their internal validity is lower, quasi-longitudinal studies comparing actual participants with matchednonparticipants constitute, in our opinion, the most interestingresearch designs not only because of their strong external validity,but also because of the obvious fact that the experience of partic-ipation in collective gatherings can scarcely be reproduced bymere exposure to videos or even by involvement in experimentallyinduced rituals (see Richert, Whitehouse, & Stewart, 2005, forpotentials and limitations of the experimental induction of ritual-istic collective gatherings).

Finally, as regards our measure of identity fusion, it should benoted that we used the pictorial index as a continuous variablereflecting the degree of inclusion of the self in the group. However,the pictorial measure of identity fusion is usually considered asdichotomous (Swann et al., 2012): Participants who responded tothe scale option indicating a total overlap of the self and the groupare considered as fused with the group, whereas respondents whochoose the others options are not. Authors in the framework ofidentity fusion recommend using a continuous measure of fusionfor further research (see Gómez et al., 2011). In any case, in thepresent studies the pictorial measure as continuous variable

Table 5Effect Size Estimation of Association Between PerceivedEmotional Synchrony and Identity Fusion, Social Integration,Positive Affect and Well-Being, Self-Esteem and Social Beliefs

Variable and studyPerceived emotional

synchrony

Identity fusion Weighted r � .56Fusion with the group (Study 2) r(319) � .56��

Fusion with the group (Study 4) r(21) � .54��

Social integration Weighted r � .34Social 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 (PWBStudy 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 � .27Collective self-esteem (Study3) r(132) � .19�

Collective self-esteem (Study 4) r(21) � .28 †

Social beliefs and values Weighted r � .21Benevolent and just world (Study 1) r(93) � .26�

Benevolent and just world (Study 2) r(319) � .19��

Values (Study 3) r(78) � .22�

Note. Weighted average correlation coefficients are based on Rosenthal(1991).† p � .10. � p � .05. �� p � .01.

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showed satisfactory criterion validity with measures of socialintegration, as well as with other mediational variables such asperceived emotional synchronization.

General Discussion

The central idea of Durkheim’s (1912) model is that collectivegatherings entail a number of psychosocial consequences amongparticipants because of the particular emotional dynamic theygenerate. Through emotion elicitation, reciprocal emotional stim-ulation and the build-up of mutual empathy, collective gatheringsbring participants to a stage of emotional fusion or emotionalsynchrony. Feelings such as “we are one” are viewed by Durkheimas being at the heart of these participants’ experience of groupbelonging and social integration. Though often referred to, thisclassic theory had still not been subjected to empirical verificationa century after it was proposed.

Quasi-longitudinal Study 2 and experimental Study 4 confirmedthe “collective effervescence” reinforcement of the social identityhypothesis proposed by Durkheim (1912). They indeed showedthat ritualized gatherings enhanced identity fusion, particularlyduring the climax of enacting the ritual. Thus, Durkheim’s notionof collective effervescence is not merely a fuzzy, old-style conceptfrom the early 20th century. It is a measurable process of intensesocially shared emotionality and perception of similarity and unity,showing convergent validity with canonical measures of identityfusion. Furthermore, current empirical literature on social behaviorand neuroscience is replete with concepts and findings fittingDurkheim’s concepts of collective effervescence and emotionalcommunion. Affect contagion is now investigated as the transmis-sion of affect from one person to another. Preston and de Waal(2002; de Waal, 2008) proposed an influential model of empathyat the core of which lies a mechanism providing an observer withaccess to the subjective state of an observed person, so that neuralrepresentations of similar states are automatically and uncon-sciously activated in the former. In this way, the observed and theobserver are led to socially share their emotions. Such a notion isnow supported by neuropsychological research on mirror neuronsshowing that brain regions activated in someone observing anaction are the same as those that are active when this observerperforms the action (e.g., Gallese, Fadiga, Fogassi, & Rizzolatti,1996; Iacoboni, 2009). It has been proposed that this mechanism isat the basis of a direct form of action understanding (Gallese,2006). Obviously, the same mechanism is likely to be involved inthe spreading of emotional states from person to person, the stateactive in the observed person being automatically mirrored in thestate of the observer; thus, leading to a direct experiential under-standing between them. Goldman and Sripada (2005) have pro-posed a similar stimulation-based mechanism as “mediated reso-nance,” and Gallese (2006) stressed that, by means of embodiedstimulation, we do not just “see” an action, an emotion, or asensation. Rather, internal representations of the body states asso-ciated with this action, emotion, or sensation are evoked in ob-servers “as if” they were actually executing such an action. Acentury after Durkheim’s modeling of collective effervescence andperceived emotional synchrony effects, current psychological con-cepts are thus broadly consistent with his views, and our empiricalresults largely confirmed the effects predicted by the model.

These results showed that collective emotional gatheringsstrengthen participants’ affect balance in subjective well-being byreinforcing positive affect more than by reducing negative affect.By increasing empowerment, collective emotional gatherings re-inforce the self-acceptance facet of psychological well-being. Byenhancing identity fusion, collective gatherings not only enhancepositive relationships with others, but also reinforce an enlargedview of the self as worthier and more positive. This augmentedmerging of the self with the group probably favors states ofself-transcendence that help people find meaning and purpose inlife (Csíkszentmihályi, 1990; Ryff & Keyes, 1995). In addition,Swann, Gómez, Huici, Morales, and Hixon (2010) showed thatidentity fusion in conditions of increased arousal could enhanceparticipants’ endorsement of extreme actions for their group. Fur-thermore, participation in positively valenced collective emotionalgatherings reinforces prosocial values and increases positive worldassumptions or social beliefs, and thus, strengthens feelings of apurposeful and meaningful life, and probably the perception ofpersonal growth as well. Finally, it is important to note thatperceived emotional synchrony correlated with a short measure ofhappiness that included hedonic, psychological, and social facets(Vázquez & Hervás, 2013).

The question thus arises of how long these effects last afterthe collective gathering has dissolved. Our previous studiessuggested that such effects are limited in time, with 1 week forcommon collective events (Rimé et al., 2010) and 3 weeks formore intense collective gatherings such as sociopolitical dem-onstrations (Páez et al., 2007). In the current Study 2, positiveaffect was climactically higher during the folkloric march, andalthough the scores decreased after the event, they remainedhigher than they had been before it—showing a similar profileto identity fusion with the group. This observation suggests thatthe positive influence on well-being lasted a week at the veryleast.

Conclusion

The positive effects of social support on mental and physicalhealth are of course well-known, and the positive effects ofcollective identity have been highlighted previously (Haslam etal., 2009). In addition, Fischer et al. (2014) confirmed thatintensity of participation in a ritual collective gathering wasrelated to arousal and positive affect. Longitudinal evidenceconfirmed that a public honor ceremony for the victims of acollective trauma predicts social well-being and solidarity(Hawdon & Ryan, 2011). The present research examined spe-cific processes or mechanisms underlying the positive effectsresulting from episodes of intense social interaction associatedwith the dynamics of social movements. Our studies suggestthat participation in collective behaviors helps to infuse emo-tional energy by enhancing positive affect and emotions, in-cluding feelings related to social categories such as collectiveself-esteem. The core mechanism of the positive effects yieldedby collective gatherings on psychosocial well-being rests on theintensification of socially shared emotions and on the strength-ening of perceived similarity, unity, and entitativity with thegroup that such intensification entails. These effects, in turn,reinforce positive social beliefs and social integration.

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In summary, our results support Durkheim’s intuition that “sim-ple” and “complex” cultural rituals, as well as religious and sec-ularized collective gatherings, constitute similar phenomena. Pro-cess and effects are alike. The only difference lies in the sacred orsecular values with which the collective event is imbued.

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Appendix

Content of Perceived Emotional Synchrony Scale (PESC)

Please answer according to your feelings towards your Tambo-rrada group, taking into account that 1 � not at all and 7 � all ofthe time.

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

2. It seemed like we could read each other’s minds.

3. We felt that we were one.

4. We felt more sensitive to our emotions and feelingsbecause we were surrounded by people who felt thesame.

5. We felt a strong shared emotion.

6. We performed as one, like a single person.

7. We didn’t 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 whatwe were as individuals.

11. We felt more intense emotions because we all wentthrough the same experience.

12. I felt as if I was transported out of myself, becomingpart 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.

Received April 4, 2014Revision received December 22, 2014

Accepted January 8, 2015 �

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Emotional communion synchrony effects collective behavior

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