Whether it is laughing at a classic comedy or watching a horror film from behind a cushion, movies can generate myriad feelings. Now researchers say experiencing intense emotions alongside others makes people feel more connected – provided you can see them.
It has long been known that experiencing emotional events together can strengthen bonds between people, with a previous study finding that watching emotional films with another person makes people feel more connected.
But it has been unclear whether individuals needed to experience intense emotions, similar emotions or both to produce a greater bond. It has also been unclear whether the effect is seen when people watch both joyful and sad films, and whether it occurs only when individuals can see each other.
Writing in the journal Royal Society Open Science, Victor Chung of the École Normale Supérieure in France and colleagues report how they probed the matter by inviting strangers to watch videos together in same sex pairs.
The pairs were each shown three five-minute videos in a random order while wearing a face mask and headset. These videos were either positive (a comedy), negative (a film showing the suffering of captive animals) or neutral (footage of a university library). While half the pairs watched the films with a curtain open between them, the other half had the curtain closed.
For each participant the team also recorded an electrocardiogram as well as respiratory activity and skin conductance, to track physical metrics that indicated how the strength of their emotions changed.
At the start of the experiment the researchers asked each participant whether they’d like to meet the other member of their pair again, and whether they identified with them.
After watching each video, participants reported their emotions and feelings of connectedness, and after seeing all three videos they were asked once again about their feelings towards the other participant.
The results from 39 pairs revealed participants’ own reports and their measures of heart rate, respiratory rate and skin conductance showed the emotional films generated stronger responses than the neutral film. In addition, pairs that could see each other while watching the films rated their emotions as more intense.
Crucially, the team say participants’ feelings of connectedness within the pairs was boosted when they experienced more intense emotions, as recorded by skin conductance measures which, Chung noted, is the physiological measure of emotional arousal that is easiest to interpret. However, this was only the case when participants watched the films with the curtain between them open.
The researchers said that whether or not the pairs could see each other had no impact on how positively or negatively they felt about the films.
“We found that silently watching emotional films together with another individual is associated with social bonding, even when this person is a stranger and without any verbal communication,” said Chung.
However, Chung noted the study cannot prove social bonding results from intense emotions, and does not rule out the possibility that having similar emotions increases social bonding in other contexts.
“Our findings suggest that experiencing intense emotions with others, even during brief interactions with strangers, plays a role in the emergence of social relationships and the formation of social groups,” he said.