Circling Science

The ice-breaker effect: singing mediates fast social bonding

Eiluned Pearce, Jacques Launay and Robin I. M. Dunbar · 2015

Evidence
Controlled study
Kind
Journal article
peer-reviewed
Method
New adult-education classes, singing or not, followed over seven months, with closeness to the class rated before and after sessions
Sample
135 adults in seven new classes: four singing, two crafts and one creative writing
Published
Royal Society Open Science, 2(10), 150221

Related practices

Studies or describes another practice people take part in, without testing Circling.

New singing classes bonded faster than new crafts and writing classes: in the first month singers grew closer to their class during a session than the others did, but by the seventh month both felt equally close.

What it doesn’t show

Seven classes, and people chose which to join, so class and activity are mixed together; about half the participants gave data at all three time points. Closeness was the participants’ own rating.

Summary based on the abstract and the full text’s methods.

Directions that build on it

  1. From circle to community

    Builds on 6 works · 4 funding routes

    Do regular circles grow into a community, with ties, belonging and help that last beyond the sessions?

Links

Cite

Pearce, E., Launay, J., & Dunbar, R. I. M. (2015). The ice-breaker effect: singing mediates fast social bonding. Royal Society Open Science, 2(10), 150221. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.150221