Mimicry and Prosocial Behavior
- 1 January 2004
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Psychological Science
- Vol. 15 (1), 71-74
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0963-7214.2004.01501012.x
Abstract
Recent studies have shown that mimicry occurs unintentionally and even among strangers. In the present studies, we investigated the consequences of this automatic phenomenon in order to learn more about the adaptive function it serves. In three studies, we consistently found that mimicry increases pro-social behavior. Participants who had been mimicked were more helpful and generous toward other people than were non-mimicked participants. These beneficial consequences of mimicry were not restricted to behavior directed toward the mimicker, but included behavior directed toward people not directly involved in the mimicry situation. These results suggest that the effects of mimicry are not simply due to increased liking for the mimicker, but are due to increased prosocial orientation in general.Keywords
This publication has 13 references indexed in Scilit:
- Mimicry for money: Behavioral consequences of imitationJournal of Experimental Social Psychology, 2003
- "Mood contagion": The automatic transfer of mood between persons.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2000
- "Mood contagion": The automatic transfer of mood between persons.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2000
- Cortical Mechanisms of Human ImitationScience, 1999
- The chameleon effect: The perception–behavior link and social interaction.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1999
- The chameleon effect: The perception-behavior link and social interaction.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1999
- Help, I Need Somebody: Automatic Action and InactionSocial Cognition, 1998
- Action recognition in the premotor cortexBrain, 1996
- Surface form and memory in question answeringCognitive Psychology, 1982
- TALK AND SILENCE SEQUENCES IN INFORMAL CONVERSATIONS III: INTERSPEAKER INFLUENCEHuman Communication Research, 1981