‘Super Synchronizers’ study claims singles naturally attuning to date’s mood are rated more attractive

10th July 2024 Arike Idris

A new research has claimed daters prefer romantic partners who instinctively mirror the tone of the date.

The new study, which was published in Communication Psychology last month (June 10), coined these people as ‘super synchronizers’ as they examined the physiological mechanism of romantic bonding.

Researchers explored partner synchronicity after they conducted a preregistered online experiment with 144 participants and a speed-dating experiment with 48 people.

The online questionnaire consisted of 144 people watching a 92 second video featuring different synchrony levels between a man and a woman and rate its attractiveness.

The speed dating experiment took place in a laboratory and consisted of 24 different sex pairs while each individual would interact with four different people for five minutes.

Participants would rate their partner on first impressions and then rate them again after the five minute date while wearing a wristband tracker measuring physiological arousal levels. They also completed a tapping test alongside a metronome to demonstrate their ability to sync up with a non-human rhythm.

According to the results, more in-tune people of the rhythm of the date received higher attractive ratings from their companion. Additionally, in-tune people also synchronise better biologically, this trait may also affect their attractiveness in non-romantic interactions.

Shir Atzil, study author and assistant professor at Hebrew University, told the New York Post: “We discovered that the ability to synchronize is stable across tasks and across partners. Some people are Super Synchronizers, and Super Synchronizers are consistently rated as more attractive.

“Being sensitive to a partner and attuning to them can help promote romantic bonding. This is because synchronized physiological states can improve regulation across various bodily systems, making interactions more fulfilling and suggesting cognitive and evolutionary advantages.”