Nornagest comments on To like each other, sing and dance in synchrony - Less Wrong

20 Post author: Kaj_Sotala 23 April 2012 01:30PM

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Comment author: Nornagest 23 April 2012 08:25:11PM 11 points [-]

I'd suspect that singing outgroup anthems would have a significantly stronger group-bonding effect than singing the local national anthem or something like it, by way of implicitly setting the group against the larger society. A group of Americans singing the Internationale has a lot more to bond over than the same Americans singing along to the Star-Spangled Banner at a baseball game, and I'd expect people's emotional regulation to pick up this distinction even if it isn't borne out by explicit preferences.

Comment author: Luke_A_Somers 24 April 2012 02:06:43PM 0 points [-]

Yes, it would be a very interesting experiment. It could mess things up by taking people out of the singing. How the two effects balance out could vary wildly across individuals.