Are YOU a 'Super Synchroniser'? Some singletons have the unique ability to synchronise their heart rate with prospective partners - and they're more likely to bag a second date
- Super Synchronisers have the ability to align their bodily rhythms with their date
- Researchers found that people with this ability were seen as more attractive
When it comes to dating, some people just seem to have a certain knack for making a great first impression.
But now scientists say that some singletons' smoothness might be due to a unique ability to synchronise bodily functions like heart rate with those of their date.
A study from Hebrew University, Jerusalem found that 'Super Synchronisers' are able to subconsciously tune in to their partner's bodily rhythms.
And the researchers discovered that people with this strange ability are actually perceived by others as more attractive.
Lead author Dr Shir Atzil told MailOnline: 'If a certain partner can improve our physiological regulation, we have a biological reason to be attracted to them.'
Scientists say that some singletons' dating success could be down to a unique ability to synchronise their bodily rhythms with their date's (stock image)
Physiological synchrony is the way in which some individuals' bodily functions subconsciously start to align.
When certain people interact, their heart rates, breathing patterns, skin conductivity, and even hormonal functions can begin to come into sync.
Researchers have long known that synchrony seems to play a role in successful romantic relationships.
For example, studies have shown that couples whose heart rates and breathing come into alignment experience a greater sense of relationship satisfaction.
To see if physiological synchrony also plays a role in the initial stages of romantic attraction the researchers conducted two experiments.
In the first, 144 participants watched a 92-second video in which people are seen acting in a synchronous or unsynchronous manner.
Researchers showed 144 participants videos acting in a highly synchronous (dark grey) and poorly synchronised (light blue) manner. These graphs show how the actors themselves were seen as more attractive (left) and having more mutual attraction (right) when they were synchronised
The participants were then asked to rate the attractiveness of both the man and woman in the video as well as assess the actors' level of mutual attraction.
The researchers discovered that participants rated both participants as more attractive when they were interacting in a synchronised way.
Participants also rated the level of mutual attraction between the actors as higher when they saw them in a higher synchrony scenario.
A further 48 participants, 24 men and 24 women, were then selected to take part in a second experiment to investigate how synchrony affected attractiveness.
Each participant was sent on four five-minute speed dates with other participants in a lab decorated to have a 'homely arrangement'.
In a second experiment, participants were sent on 5-minute speed dates while researchers measured their physiological arousal through electrodermal activity
During the dates, the researchers measured the participants' electrodermal activity - a measure of their physiological arousal.
Before and after each date, participants rated how attracted they were to their partner.
These scores were then averaged to give everyone an individual 'Romantic Attractiveness Score'.
Researchers also measured how well their electrodermal activity synched up with that of their date to rate their capacity for synchronising.
They discovered that while initial attractiveness wasn't related to synchrony ability, those with higher synchrony scores were rated as more attractive after the date.
Dr Atzil says: 'Initial attraction does not predict synchrony during a speed date, whereas synchronization during a date does predict increased attraction.'
Some participants were classed as 'super synchronisers' who were able to display a high level of synchrony regardless of who or what they were engaging with
The researchers also discovered that some of the participants had a particularly strong ability to synchronise with their partners.
These Super Synchronisers' abilities were so marked that the researchers found they could even synch up their body's rhythms with inanimate objects like metronomes.
Dr Atzil says: 'Super synchronizers are rated as more attractive, and in the online experiment we found that the same people are rated as more attractive when in sync, compared to not in sync.
'This suggests that synchrony is attractive.'
The researchers think this ability to synchronise is so attractive because it is a signal of an underlying biological or reproductive fitness.
One of the theories which scientists use to explain why we are attracted to people suggests that we look for traits that are signs of useful traits in a partner.
This means if your date is going poorly it could be because you're not biologically disposed to synch up with your partner's physiological rhythms (stock image)
For example, some researchers suggest that seeing men with children is attractive because it is a sign they would be good fathers for their own offspring.
Likewise, the ability to synchronise could be a subtle sign that a person has very good control over their body which is a potential sign of health and fitness.
Dr Atzil says: 'The sensorimotor experiment shows that individual differences in the ability to sync potentially lies in basic sensorimotor features. Being sensitive to the environment, and able to adapt quickly.
'Synchronization can mark the partner’s potency for impacting our physiological regulation, improving our fitness.'
One of the big questions remaining is whether synchrony actually causes attraction or whether being mutually attracted actually causes this synchrony.
The researchers say they can't draw definitive conclusions at this point but hope to investigate this mechanism further in the future.
