Interpersonal Synchrony in Mentor-Mentee Dyads: An Analysis of Nonverbal Synchrony and Trait-Empathy

Journal of Modern Foreign Psychology. 2024. Vol. 13. No. 1. P. 47–57.

Vodneva A., Galina V. Oreshina, Kustova T., Tkachenko I., Tcepelevich M., Grigorenko E.

Interpersonal synchrony is a notable aspect of communication; it is evident at various levels, including nonverbal.However, research on interpersonal synchrony in the workplace is limited in general and for mentoring in particular.Empathy is essential for both interpersonal synchrony and mentoring. This study aims to investigate how trait-empathycontributes to nonverbal synchrony in mentor-mentee dyads. Thirty-seven pairs were recruited from the MentorshipProgram and engaged in conversations on work and leisure topics. Empathy was assessed using The Empathy Quotient,and nonverbal synchrony was measured via Motion Energy Analysis. A significant contribution of the mentee’s cogni-tive empathy to the averaged head movement synchrony was found. Cognitive empathy enhances the mentee’s under-standing of a mentor’s perspective and expectations through nonverbal cues, particularly facial expressions and headmovements. The relationship between cognitive empathy and nonverbal synchrony could be considered in mentoringprograms for pairing, as previous research has shown that synchronized dyads are more successful in achieving jointoutcomes. However, further research using other methods and a larger sample size is needed.

Keywords: эмпатия, межличностная коммуникация, empathy, анализ временных рядов, невербальная коммуникация, nonverbal communication, time series analysis, Interpersonal synchronization, механизм наставничества, mentorship, nonverbal behaviour, невербальное поведение, nonverbal synchrony, Motion Energy Analysis, межличностная синхронизация, невербальная синхронизация, оценка двигательной активности