What makes you feel more powerful? Maybe it is a good workout at the gym that raises your sense of personal power? Perhaps when you wear that fab new jumper, that you just know you look fantastic in, you feel invincible? Or it might be that moment at weddings or birthday parties when you strut your dance moves that omnipotence feels at your fingertips? The problem is that you can’t always be at the gym, jumpers have to be washed, and weddings only come around every so often. The good news is that if you want to bolster your feelings of power in an everyday setting all you need to do is find a friend and walk in time with them.

This was discovered in a new study in which researchers simply paired subjects with an experimenter who they thought was another subject. They were told to do one of two things; walk in lockstep unison for 270 metres or simply walk together for 270 metres without bothering to be in synch as they walked.

After this the subjects were given a series of tests that were aimed at distracting them from the task at hand and then came the real purpose of the study; they were shown a man’s face with an angry expression and based on that information alone were asked to estimate the man’s height and overall size.

Interestingly, those who had walked in unison with their partner judged the man to be smaller, less muscular, and less physically imposing. For instance they estimated to man to about 2.5 centimetres shorter than did people who had walked without being in unison. The strength of the results was so strong that statistically the chances of this being a fluke were less than one per cent.

It seems then that simply walking in unison, perhaps marching, with another person increases one’s sense of personal power making them feel more formidable and making others seem less threatening. In this study only males took part so it might be that this only hold true for males but in all likelihood it will apply to some degree to females as well.

The implications, of course, are manifold. On a positive note it might mean that a couple can feel more powerful in life if they walk in unison, or perhaps business partners might enter a negotiation feeling more positive if they walk to the meeting in lockstep. On the downside, it explains the mentality of parade ground military displays and suggests you vacate the space for gangs walking the footpath in lockstep.

In all, though, as any good wildebeest will tell you, it shows once again the power of being in synch with your fellow travellers.

If you have ever been to a concert of any sort you will know the transcendent experience that is shared when a room (or even a stadium) full of people share in enjoying music. It is a marvellous experience for the listeners but how much moreso must it be for the artists? According to a new study the experience may be profound at the brain level for those musicians, to the extent that their brainwaves move into synchronisation.

In the study researchers put experienced guitarists into duet pairs and used electrodes to record brain activity on each person. The guitarists were asked to play Scheidler’s “Sonata in G Major”, however each partner in the duet was given a different task. They were asked to play in a “different voice” and one was given responsibility for ensuring that they started at the same time and held the same tempo.

Although they were playing the same piece of music, the guitarists were essentially performing different tasks. Despite this the brain wave analysis showed co-ordination of brain wave oscillations and a synchronisation of brain activity.

While this happened when people were playing music, the expectation is that similar synchronisation will occur when people co-ordinate other actions as well. So while they say “Mars needs guitars”, perhaps Earth just needs some co-ordinated activities. On a global scale or even the interpersonal level, if conflict is endemic some co-ordinated activity like playing sport or even communicating could get brains into synchronised activity and understanding might follow. So next time you feel a fight threatening to disturb the peace of the home, try breaking out the guitars (or even better, the banjos) and see if you can play your way to harmony.