Adult Attachment Orientation and Implicit Behavioral Mimicry

Hall, Natalie R.; Millings, Abigail; Bouças, Sofia Barbosa

doi:10.1007/s10919-012-0136-7

Cited by 12 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 20 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…As reviewed above, one strategy to attain affiliation with others is mimicry. Indeed, some evidence shows that different attachment tendencies, as characterized by differences in the motivation to attain affiliations with others, modulate implicit mimicry in adults [58, 59]. Hall and colleagues found that adults’ insecure attachment yielded diminished behavioural mimicry (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hall and colleagues found that adults’ insecure attachment yielded diminished behavioural mimicry (i.e. face-rubbing) [58]. Furthermore, evidence from an emotional facial mimicry study revealed that while non-avoidant individuals mimicked happy and angry facial expressions, the avoidant group tended to respond with a smile to the angry expressions [59].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The modulation of facial mimicry by attachment tendencies and their underlying affiliation motives in 3-year-olds: An EMG study

2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

From early in life, facial mimicry represents an important example of implicit non-verbal communication. Facial mimicry is conceived of as the automatic tendency to mimic another person’s facial expressions and is thought to serve as a social glue among interaction partners. Although in adults mimicry has been shown to be moderated by the social context and one’s needs to affiliate with others, evidence from behavioural mimicry studies suggest that 3-year-olds do not yet show sensitivity to social dynamics. Here, we examined whether attachment tendencies, as a proxy for interindividual differences in affiliation motivation, modulates facial mimicry in 3-year-olds. Resistant and avoidant insecure attachment tendencies are characterized by high and low affiliation motivation, respectively, and these were hypothesized to lead to either enhancement or suppression of mimicry. Additionally, we hypothesized that these effects will be moderated by inhibitory control skills. Facial mimicry of happy and sad expressions was recorded with electromyography (EMG), attachment tendencies were assessed with a parent-report questionnaire and inhibitory control with the gift delay task. The final sample consisted of 42 children, with overall scores suggesting secure attachment. Our findings revealed that 3-year-olds mimicked happy and sad facial expressions. Moreover, resistant tendencies predicted enhanced sad but not happy facial mimicry, whereas avoidant tendencies were not significantly related to mimicry. These effects were not moderated by inhibitory control skills. In conclusion, these findings provide the first evidence for the modulation of mimicry by attachment tendencies and their underlying motivation for affiliation in young children, specifically for negatively-valenced emotional expressions.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The modulation of facial mimicry by attachment tendencies and their underlying affiliation motives in 3-year-olds: An EMG study

2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For example, the frequency of mimicry behaviors is predicted by attachment traits of adults (Hall et al, 2012). Vice versa, synchrony entailed liking, cooperative behavior, and further prosocial effects.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nonverbal synchrony and affect in dyadic interactions

2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In an experiment on dyadic social interaction, we invited participants to verbal interactions in cooperative, competitive, and ‘fun task’ conditions. We focused on the link between interactants’ affectivity and their nonverbal synchrony, and explored which further variables contributed to affectivity: interactants’ personality traits, sex, and the prescribed interaction tasks. Nonverbal synchrony was quantified by the coordination of interactants’ body movement, using an automated video-analysis algorithm (motion energy analysis). Traits were assessed with standard questionnaires of personality, attachment, interactional style, psychopathology, and interpersonal reactivity. We included 168 previously unacquainted individuals who were randomly allocated to same-sex dyads (84 females, 84 males, mean age 27.8 years). Dyads discussed four topics of general interest drawn from an urn of eight topics, and finally engaged in a fun interaction. Each interaction lasted 5 min. In between interactions, participants repeatedly assessed their affect. Using hierarchical linear modeling, we found moderate to strong effect sizes for synchrony to occur, especially in competitive and fun task conditions. Positive affect was associated positively with synchrony, negative affect was associated negatively. As for causal direction, data supported the interpretation that synchrony entailed affect rather than vice versa. The link between nonverbal synchrony and affect was strongest in female dyads. The findings extend previous reports of synchrony and mimicry associated with emotion in relationships and suggest a possible mechanism of the synchrony-affect correlation.

show abstract

“…Furthermore, individual differences predispose one’s tendency to mimic other’s behavior[ 15 ]. For example, people with secure attachment style tend to exhibit more mimicry behavior than people with insecure attachment style[ 22 ]. However, little is known whether implicit motor synchrony is also constrained by individual differences.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender and autistic traits modulate implicit motor synchrony

2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Interpersonal motor synchrony during walking or dancing is universally observed across cultures, and this joint movement was modulated by physical and social parameters. However, human interactions are greatly shaped by our unique traits, and self-related factors are surprisingly little studied in the context of interpersonal motor synchrony. In this study, we investigated two such factors known to be highly associated with motor coordination: gender and autistic traits. We employed a real-world task extending our understanding beyond laboratory tasks. Participants of the same gender were paired up to walk and chat in a natural environment. A cover story was introduced so that participants would not know their walking steps were being recorded and instead believed that their location was being tracked by a global positioning system (GPS), so they would ignore the motor recording. We found that the female pairs’ steps were more synchronized than those of the males, and higher autistic tendencies (measured by the autism-spectrum quotient) attenuated synchronous steps. Those who synchronized better had higher impression rating increase for their walking partners (measured by interpersonal judgement scale) than those who synchronized less well. Our results indicated that the participants’ joint movements were shaped by predisposed traits and might share similar mechanism with social functions such as empathy.

show abstract

Adult Attachment Orientation and Implicit Behavioral Mimicry

Cited by 12 publications

References 20 publications

The modulation of facial mimicry by attachment tendencies and their underlying affiliation motives in 3-year-olds: An EMG study

The modulation of facial mimicry by attachment tendencies and their underlying affiliation motives in 3-year-olds: An EMG study

Nonverbal synchrony and affect in dyadic interactions

Gender and autistic traits modulate implicit motor synchrony

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About