Mimicry: causes and consequences

Duffy, Korrina A.; Chartrand, Tanya L.

doi:10.1016/j.cobeha.2015.03.002

Cited by 101 publications

(87 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…These are all novel findings, which we recommend replicating, as they provide fresh insights into the human sexual behavior. Furthermore, in line with prior literature (16,20,21,28,(41)(42)(43), we found evidence for mimicry on all three levels of expression (expressions, eye gaze and physiology). Having established that people display variety of expressions, we set out to investigate whether participants' facial expressions, eye fixations, and physiological responses could be more reliable predictors of interpersonal attraction.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

The choreography of human attraction: physiological synchrony in a blind date setting

Prochazkova

Sjak-Shie

Behrens

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Humans are social animals whose mental wellbeing is shaped by the ability to attract and connect with each other. In a dating world, in which success can be determined by brief interactions, apart from physical features, there is a whole choreography of movements, physical reactions and subtle expressions that drive humans' sexual attraction. To determine what drives attraction, we measured nonverbal dynamics between people during real-life interactions outside the laboratory, where dating is most relevant. Participants wore eye-tracking glasses with embedded cameras, and devices to measure physiological signals including heart rate and skin conductance. Crucially, visible signals that can be controlled, such as facial expressions or gaze, did not predict attraction. Instead, attraction was predicted by synchrony in heart rate and skin conductance between partners, which are unconscious and difficult to regulate. Our findings suggest that shared emotionality is vital for mutual attraction. Moreover, physiological synchrony may provide a medium for translating visible expressions into embodied emotions, which can turn into intentions via somatosensory simulation. Significance StatementIn our modern world where millions of people meet online without interacting face-to-face, the question "what defines attraction" has become very relevant. In this study, we used modern technologies to lay down a foundation for the processes that drive human attraction during reallife interactions. Contrary to common belief, we found that attraction is not predicted by a frequency of expression or eye fixation duration, nor is linearly related to the participant's autonomic nervous system activity. Importantly, we found that the more a participant synchronized their heart rate and skin conductance with their partner, the more they felt attracted toward that person. This study reveals a fundamental physiological process that plays a role in the formation of romantic relations.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

The choreography of human attraction: physiological synchrony in a blind date setting

Prochazkova

Sjak-Shie

Behrens

et al. 2019

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The difference is that the former emphasizes the occurrence of temporal motion and the latter focuses less on temporal dynamics and more on the repetition of the same behavior. A similar phenomenon to body synchrony, namely automatic mimicry, also plays an important role in social interaction [53,54]. On one hand, social factors shape spontaneous mimicry.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, people tend to mimic a partner who is attractive [55] or an ingroup member [56]. On the other hand, automatic mimicry boosts positive social consequences [53,54], including liking [52], rapport [57], and prosocial behavior [58,59]. Research on body synchrony and automatic mimicry reveal that implicit communication and social factors are interwoven, which suggests an essential role for implicit communication in social interaction.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paired walkers with better first impression synchronize better

et al. 2020

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This study measured automatic walking synchronization and how it associates with social impression. Previous studies discovered positive social consequence of motor synchrony with ecological paradigms (e.g. body movement synchrony between therapists and patients in clinical sessions, and the synchrony of side-by-side walkers). However, most studies of joint movement with high ecological validity face the same challenge, namely that conversations between participants might be the main or a partial contributor to the observed social benefits, as conversation is well documented to promote understanding and motor synchronization. We addressed this issue by using a novel paradigm to remove the conversation component and examined how synchrony per se interacted with social impression. Participants were paired to walk side by side in silence (i.e. without conversation) and their social impression toward each other was rated before/after the paired walk. Our results showed that walkers' first impression was positively associated with their step synchronization rate in the silent paired walk. Together with past findings, the bi-directional relation between body entrainment and social functions suggests that implicit nonverbal communication plays a significant role in providing a basis for interpersonal interaction. OPEN ACCESS Citation: Cheng M, Kato M, Saunders JA, Tseng Ch (2020) Paired walkers with better first impression synchronize better. PLoS ONE 15(2): e0227880.

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“…Behavioural studies indicate that this phenomenon occurs largely outside of awareness yet is closely intertwined with the social dynamics of the interaction (Chartrand & Bargh, ; Chartrand & Lakin, ). The social sensitivity of mimicry suggests that it plays an important role in social interactions and deviations in the occurrence of mimicry might be indicative of social cognitive disorders such as autism spectrum disorders (Wang & Hamilton, ; Duffy & Chartrand, ). Thus, investigating the neurocognitive mechanisms of behavioural mimicry can contribute to our knowledge of implicit social processes relevant for daily interactions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The social sensitivity of mimicry suggests that it plays an important role in social interactions and deviations in the occurrence of mimicry might be indicative of social cognitive disorders such as autism spectrum disorders (Wang & Hamilton, 2012;Duffy & Chartrand, 2015). Thus, investigating the neurocognitive mechanisms of behavioural mimicry can contribute to our knowledge of implicit social processes relevant for daily interactions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring mimicry: general corticospinal facilitation during observation of naturalistic behaviour

Schaik

Sacheli

Bekkering

et al. 2017

Eur J of Neuroscience

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Mimicry of others' postures and behaviours forms an implicit yet indispensable component of social interactions. However, whereas numerous behavioural studies have investigated the occurrence of mimicry and its social sensitivity, the underlying neurocognitive mechanisms remain elusive. In this study, single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation was used to measure corticospinal facilitation during a naturalistic behaviour observation task adapted from the behavioural mimicry literature. Motor evoked potentials (MEPs) in participants' right hands were measured as they observed stimulus videos of a confederate describing photographs. MEPs were recorded while confederates were and were not carrying out hand and leg behaviours that also differed in spatial extent (i.e. large behaviours: face rubbing and leg crossing; small behaviours: finger tapping and foot bouncing). Importantly, the cover task instructions did not refer to the behaviours but instead required participants to focus on the confederates' photograph descriptions in order to later perform a recognition test. A general arousal effect was found, with higher MEPs during stimulus video observation than during a fixation-cross baseline, regardless of whether or not the confederate was carrying out a behaviour at the time of the pulse. When controlling for this general arousal effect, results showed that MEPs during observation of the larger two behaviours were significantly higher than the smaller two behaviours, irrespective of effector. Thus, using a controlled yet naturalistic paradigm, this study suggests that general sensorimotor arousal during social interactions could play a role in implicit behavioural mimicry.

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Mimicry: causes and consequences

Cited by 101 publications

References 60 publications

The choreography of human attraction: physiological synchrony in a blind date setting

The choreography of human attraction: physiological synchrony in a blind date setting

Paired walkers with better first impression synchronize better

Measuring mimicry: general corticospinal facilitation during observation of naturalistic behaviour

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