The research on body doubling

Last updated: October 10, 2026

Body doubling means doing a task with another person present, in the room or on a call, who is usually getting on with something of their own. Many neurodivergent people use it to get started and to keep going.

We would rather tell you what is known than oversell it. The short version: lots of people say it helps them, there is solid older research on how other people's presence changes the way we work, and careful studies of body doubling itself have only just begun.

The short version

Body doubling grew out of the ADHD community, not out of a laboratory. People found it worked for them and gave it a name.
The largest study so far is a survey of 220 people. Most said it helps them start and stay on tasks. It measured what people reported, not their results.
The first small experiments are appearing, with mixed results. No large controlled trial has been done.
It does not help everyone. Some people find another person distracting or stressful.
Anchor2X is a way to find a compatible person to work alongside. It is not a treatment and does not replace medical care.

What neurodivergent people report

In 2024, researchers published a survey of 220 adults in a peer-reviewed accessibility journal. About nine in ten of them identified as neurodivergent, mostly with ADHD or autism.^[1]

Just over half (57%) already knew the term. Once it was explained, 75% said it was something they do.
People used it most for housework, study, paid work, hobbies and self-care, so it is not only a work tool.
Almost half said they are more likely to finish a task with someone else there.
The reasons people gave most often were staying focused, getting started, and feeling less anxious or overwhelmed.
Most did it with friends or family. One in five had done it with a stranger online.
It happened in person, over video calls, and with recordings such as “study with me” videos.

The same survey recorded the downsides. Some people found a body double more distracting than helpful, some worried about being judged, and several said that finding a compatible partner and a time that works is the hardest part.

Keep in mind: people chose to answer this survey, it was shared in neurodivergent communities online, and it asked for opinions. It shows that many people value body doubling. It cannot show how much it changes what they get done.

The first experiments

Tests that compare working alone with working alongside someone are new, small, and do not all agree.

A 2025 study asked 12 adults with ADHD to do a building task in virtual reality alone, with a human body double, and with an AI one. They worked faster with either double, and said they felt more focused. Their accuracy did not change. This study has not yet been peer reviewed.^[2]
The same paper notes that two earlier student theses, one with ADHD participants and one without, found no measurable difference in performance, even though some participants said the body double motivated them.^[2]
A 2026 review of the field concluded that research on body doubling and ADHD is “limited to only a small number of papers and master's theses” and called for more testing.^[3]

Companies that run coworking services have also published surveys of their own customers. Those report large benefits, but they have no comparison group and are not independent, so we do not rely on them here.

Older research on working near other people

Psychologists have studied how the presence of other people affects performance for more than a century. It is not research on body doubling or on neurodivergent people, but it is the closest well-tested science.

Social facilitation. In 1898, Norman Triplett noticed that cyclists rode faster alongside others than alone.^[4] In 1965, Robert Zajonc proposed why: other people raise our alertness, which helps with tasks we know well and can get in the way of tasks that are new or hard.^[5]
The effect depends on the task. A review of more than 200 studies found that people work faster on simple tasks when others are present, and both slower and less accurately on complex ones.^[6]
It may carry over to video calls. In a 2022 experiment with 54 people on Zoom, having someone present on the call went with slightly better scores on the harder reasoning questions, which was not what the researchers expected. They describe the result as exploratory.^[7]
Even a recording can help some people. A study of “study with me” videos found that viewers use them to create a working atmosphere, a gentle sense of peer pressure they control, and emotional support.^[8]

What nobody knows yet

How large the benefit is, and for whom.
Why it works when it does: accountability, company, calmer nerves, or a mix.
Whether a call works as well as being in the same room.
Which kinds of task it suits, and which it makes harder.
Whether it helps over months, not only in one session.
How it differs between ADHD, autism and other neurotypes. Most research so far is about ADHD.

It does not suit everyone

The research is clear on one point: the right partner and the right setup matter. That is why Anchor2X matches on more than availability.

You choose quiet, some talk or open talk, and camera on, off or either.
You choose how long a session lasts.
Your first meeting is free, so you can find out whether it works for you before paying anything.
You can leave any session at any moment, and block anyone without giving a reason.

If you try it and it is not for you, that is a normal result, not a failure.

Not medical advice

Anchor2X is not a medical service, and body doubling is not a treatment for ADHD, autism or any other condition. If you are thinking about changes to your care, talk to a qualified professional.

We will update this page as new studies are published. If you know of research we have missed, or think we have described something wrongly, write to hello@anchor2x.com.

Sources

Eagle, T., Baltaxe-Admony, L. B., & Ringland, K. E. (2024). “It Was Something I Naturally Found Worked and Heard About Later”: An Investigation of Body Doubling with Neurodivergent Participants. ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing, 17(3), Article 16. Read the source for reference 1
Ara, Z., Rahim, I. B., Zhou, P., Yu, L., Esmaeili, B., Yu, L.-F., & Hong, S. R. (2025). You Are Not Alone: Designing Body Doubling for ADHD in Virtual Reality. Preprint, not yet peer reviewed. arXiv:2509.12153. Read the source for reference 2
Tan, V., Hegemann, K., & Gerken, J. (2026). A Roadmap of Mixed Reality Body Doubling for Adults with ADHD. Workshop paper, CHI 2026. arXiv:2605.07851. Read the source for reference 3
Triplett, N. (1898). The dynamogenic factors in pacemaking and competition. American Journal of Psychology, 9(4), 507–533. Read the source for reference 4
Zajonc, R. B. (1965). Social facilitation. Science, 149(3681), 269–274. Read the source for reference 5
Bond, C. F., & Titus, L. J. (1983). Social facilitation: A meta-analysis of 241 studies. Psychological Bulletin, 94(2), 265–292. Read the source for reference 6
Sutskova, O., et al. (2022). Impact of video-mediated online social presence and observance on cognitive performance. Technology, Mind, and Behavior, 3(2). Read the source for reference 7
Lee, Y., Chung, J. J. Y., Song, J. Y., Chang, M., & Kim, J. (2021). Personalizing ambience and illusionary presence: How people use “study with me” videos to create effective studying environments. Proceedings of CHI 2021. Read the source for reference 8