Self or (M)other? Infants’ Sensitivity to Bodily Overlap With Their Mother Reflects Their Dyadic Coordination

Abstract

Adults experience greater self-other bodily overlap in romantic than platonic relationships. One of the closest relationships is between mother and infant, yet little is known about their mutual bodily representations. This study measured infants’ sensitivity to bodily overlap with their mother. Twenty-one 6- to 8-month-olds watched their mother’s face or a stranger’s face being stroked synchronously versus asynchronously with their own face. Infants preferred synchrony only when viewing their mother, not when viewing the stranger. Infants who strongly preferred synchrony with their mother also experienced less coordination with her in naturalistic interactions. Infants thus appear sensitive to bodily overlap with their mother, and this overlap reflects dyadic coordination, supporting theoretical accounts of intersubjectivity in the development of the bodily self.