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Synchrony Preference: Why Some People Go With the Flow and Some Don't
Author(s) -
Leroy Sophie,
Shipp Abbie J.,
Blount Sally,
Licht JohnGabriel
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
personnel psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.076
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1744-6570
pISSN - 0031-5826
DOI - 10.1111/peps.12093
Subject(s) - preference , psychology , perspective (graphical) , nomological network , interpersonal communication , construct (python library) , context (archaeology) , social psychology , pace , facilitation , cognitive psychology , scale (ratio) , computer science , artificial intelligence , paleontology , physics , geodesy , quantum mechanics , neuroscience , programming language , economics , biology , microeconomics , geography
As work in organizations becomes more fluid and fast paced the effective execution of tasks often requires people to be temporally adaptable in working with others. This paper brings to light the importance of understanding how people relate to time in the context of social interactions. By integrating the research on time and social motives, we develop a relational perspective about time. We introduce the construct of synchrony preference , an individual difference that describes a willingness to adapt one's pace and rhythm within social interactions for the purpose of creating synchrony with others. We develop a measure of synchrony preference that we validate using multiple methods across 4 studies and 7 samples, which include over 1,400 individuals. In particular, we establish a nomological network and show that synchrony preference predicts flexible pacing behaviors, interpersonal facilitation, contribution to team synchrony, contribution to team performance, and job dedication. Our results reveal that both scholars and practitioners can benefit from considering people's preference for synchrony when working with others.