Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

Implicit Behavioral Mimicry: Investigating the Impact of Group Membership

  • ORIGINAL PAPER
  • Published:
Journal of Nonverbal Behavior Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Two experiments investigated the impact of group membership on non-conscious behavioral mimicry. Female participants viewed videotapes of female confederates who rubbed their faces whilst describing a picture. The extent to which the participant mimicked this face rubbing behavior was assessed from video footage taken using a hidden video-camera. Experiment 1 showed greater mimicry of a member of an in-group than of a member of an out-group. Experiment 2 showed both explicit and implicit liking of a target group to predict the extent of mimicry of a member of that group. There was a positive relationship between implicit liking and mimicry but a negative relationship between explicit liking and mimicry. Results are discussed in terms of processes underlying mimicry.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Behavioral mimicry can also occur as a result of deliberate intention, but such mimicry is not the focus of the present research.

  2. It should be noted that explicit membership of Christian groups is relatively rare in New Zealand.

  3. An analysis using number of face touches rather than the percentage of time touching the face revealed a similar pattern of results. An index of number of face touches per minute was created by subtracting the rate in the baseline period from that in the experimental period. There was a significant effect of target, F (1,25) = 7.13, p < .02. When watching the non-Christian, participants showed an increase in rate of face touching compared to the baseline, but when viewing the Christian confederate the rate decreased relative to baseline (Ms = 1.12 vs. −.61). Full details of means and distributions are shown in Table 1.

  4. Cohen’s d was calculated using the formula recommended by Dunlap, Cortina, Vaslow, and Burke (1996) for matched groups or repeated measures designs.

  5. The correlation between mimicry scores for the Christian and non-Christian confederate was extremely low, r (45) = .006, p = .97.

  6. Two similar measures were created from the ranks for each liking score. For each liking measure the scores were ranked from the lowest (least liking) to the highest. These ranks were then summed to form one index—highest scores being obtained by those scored highly on both the implicit and the explicit liking scores. A second index was created by subtracting the implicit ranking from the explicit ranking. As for the z-score indices, there was no correlation between the summed ranking index and the mimicry difference score (r (43) = .122, p = .44) but a significant negative correlation between the difference rank index and the mimicry difference score (r (43) = .462, p < .01)

References

  • Abelson, R. P., Kinder, D. R., Peters, M. D., & Fiske, S. T. (1982). Affective and semantic components in political person perception. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 42, 619–630.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 497–529.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bavelas, J. B., Black, A., Chovil, N., Lemery, C. R., & Mullett, J. (1988). Form and function in motor mimicry: Topographic evidence that the primary function is communicative. Human Communication Research, 14, 275–299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bavelas, J. B., Black, A., Lemery, C. R., & Mullett, J. (1987). Motor mimicry as primitive empathy. In N. Eisenberg, & J. Strayer (Eds.), Empathy and its development (pp. 317–338). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berger, S. M, & Hadley, S. W. (1975). Some effects of a model’s performance on an observer’s electromyographic activity. American Journal of Psychology, 2, 263–276.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernieri, F. J. (1988). Coordinated movement and rapport in teacher–students interactions. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 12, 120–138.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernieri, F. J., Davis, J., Rosenthal, R., & Knee, C. (1994). Interactional synchrony and rapport: Measuring synchrony in displays devoid of sound and facial affect. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 20, 303–311.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernieri, F., & Rosenthal, R. (1991). Interpersonal coordination: Behavior matching and interactional synchrony. In R. S. Feldman, & B. Rime (Eds.), Fundamentals of nonverbal communication (pp. 401–432). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blairy, S., Herrera, P., & Hess, U. (1999). Mimicry and the judgment of emotional facial expressions. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 23, 5–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blascovich, J., Mendes, W. B., Hunter, S. B., Lickel, B., & Kowai-Bell, N. (2001). Perceiver threat in social interactions with stigmatized others. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 253–267.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brewer, M. B. (1991). The social self: On being the same and different at the same time. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 17, 475–482.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buss D. M., & Kendrick, D. T. (1998). Evolutionary social psychology. In D. T. Gilbert, & S. T. Fiske et al (Eds.), Handbook of social psychology Vol. 2 (4th edn. pp. 982–1026). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caporael, L. R. (1997). The evolution of truly social cognition: The core configuration model. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 1, 276–298.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Caporael, L. R. (2001). Evolutionary psychology: Toward a unifying theory and a hybrid science. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 607–628.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cappella, J. N. & Panalp, S. (1981). Talk and silence sequences in informal conversations: Interspeaker influence. Human Communication Research, 7, 117–132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chartrand, T. L., & Bargh, J. A. (1999). The chameleon effect: The perception–behavior link and social interaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 893–910.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chartrand T. L., Cheng C. M., & Jefferis V. E. (2002). You’re just a chameleon: The automatic nature and social significance of mimicry. In M. Jarymowicz, R. K. Ohme (Eds.) Natura auotmatymow (Nature of Automaticity, pp. 19–23). Warazawa: IPPAN & SWPS.

  • Chartrand, T. L. & Jefferis, V. (2003). Consequences of automatic goal pursuit and the case of nonconscious mimicry. In J. P. Forgas, K. D. Williams & W. von Hippel (Eds.), Responding to the social world: Implicit and explicit processes in social judgments and decisions (pp. 290–305). Philadelphia: Psychological Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chartrand, T. L., Maddux, W., & Lakin, J. (2005). Beyond the perception–behavior link: The ubiquitous utility and motivational moderators of non-conscious mimicry. In R. Hassin, J. Uleman, & J. A. Bargh (Eds.), Unintended thought II: The new unconscious (pp. 334–361). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheng, C. M., & Chartrand, T. L. (2003). Self-monitoring without awareness: Using mimicry as a non-conscious affiliation strategy. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 1170–1179.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Condon, W. S., & Sander, L. W. (1974). Neonate movement is synchronized with adult speech: Interactional participation and language acquisition. Science, 183, 99–101.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cosmides, L., & Tooby, J. (1992). Cognitive adaptations for social exchange. In J. Barkow, L. Cosmides, & J. Tooby (Eds.) The adapted mind (pp. 163–228). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dasgupta, N., & Greenwald, A. G. (2001). On the malleability of automatic attitudes: Combating automatic prejudice with images of admired and disliked individuals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 800–814.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dimberg, U. (1988). Facial electromyography and the experience of emotion. Journal of Psychophysiology, 2, 277–282.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dimberg, U., Thunberg, M., & Elmehed, K. (2000). Unconscious facial reactions to emotional facial expressions. Psychological Science, 11, 86–89.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dovidio, J. F., Kawakami, K., Johnson, C., Johnson, B., & Howard, A. (1997). On the nature of prejudice: Automatic and controlled processes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 33, 510–540.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunlap, W. P., Cortina, J. M., Vaslow, J. B., & Burke, M. J. (1996). Meta-analysis of experiments with matched groups or repeated measures designs. Psychological Methods, 1, 170–177.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fazio, R. H., Jackson, J. R., Dunton, B. C., & Williams, C. J. (1995). Variability in automatic activation as an unobtrusive measure of racial attitudes: A bona fide pipeline?. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 1013–1027.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Giles, H., & Powesland, P. F. (1975). Speech style and social evaluation. London: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giles, H., & Smith, P. M. (1979). Accommodation theory: Optimal levels of convergence. In H. Giles, & R. St Clair (Eds.), Language and social psychology (pp. 45–65). Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenwald, A. G., & Banaji, M. R. (1995). Implicit social cognition: Attitudes, self-esteem, and stereotypes. Psychological Review, 102, 4–27.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Greenwald, A. G., McGhee, D. E., & Schwarz, J. L. K. (1998). Measuring individual differences in implicit cognition: The Implicit Association Test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(6), 1464–1480.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Greenwald, A. G., Nosek, B. A., & Banaji, M. R. (2003). Understanding and using the Implicit Association Test: An improved scoring algorithm. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 197–216.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gump, B., & Kulik, J. A. (1997). Stress, affiliation, and emotional contagion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 305–319.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Harvie, K., Marshall-McCaskey, J., & Johnston, L. (1998). Sex-based biases in occupational hiring decisions. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 28, 1700–1713.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hatfield, E., Cacioppo, J., & Rapson, R. L. (1994). Emotional contagion. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, D., & Edgar, B. (1996). From lucy to language. New York: Simon & Schuster Editions.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnston, L. (2002). Behavioral mimicry and stigmatization. Social Cognition, 20, 18–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnston, L., Bristow, M., & Love, N. (2000). An investigation of the link between attributional judgments and stereotype-based judgments. European Journal of Social Psychology, 30, 551–568.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnston, L., Locke, V., Giles, L., & Rattray, K. (1997). Stereotypes: The good, the bad and the ugly. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 27, 725–741.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karpinski, A., & Hilton, J. L. (2001). Attitudes and the Implicit Association Test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 774–788.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kendon, A. (1970). Movement coordination in social interaction. Acta Psychologica, 32, 1–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • LaFrance, M. (1979). Nonverbal synchrony and rapport: Analysis by the cross-lag panel technique. Social Psychology Quarterly, 42, 66–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • LaFrance, M. (1982). Posture mirroring and rapport. In M. Davis (Ed.), Interaction rhythms: Periodicity in communicative behavior (pp. 279–298). New York: Human Sciences Press, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • LaFrance, M., & Ickes, W. (1981). Posture mirroring and interactional involvement: Sex and sex typing effects. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 5, 139–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lakin, J. L., & Chartrand, T. L. (2003) Using non-conscious behavioral mimicry to create affiliation and rapport. Psychological Science, 14, 334–339.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lakin, J. L., Jefferis, V. E., Cheng, C. M., & Chartrand, T. L. (2003). The Chameleon effect as social glue: Evidence for the evolutionary significance of non-conscious mimicry. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 27, 145–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1943). Defining the “field at a given time”. Psychological Review, 50, 292–310.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lott, B. E., & Lott, A. J. (1961). The formation of positive attitudes toward group members. Journal of Abnormal Social Psychology, 61, 297–300.

    Google Scholar 

  • Macrae, C. N., Bodenhausen, G. V., Milne, A. B., & Jetten, J. (1994). Out of mind but back in sight: Stereotypes on the rebound. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 808–817.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McConnell, A. R., & Liebold, J. M. (2001). Relations between the Implicit Association Test, explicit racial attitudes, and discriminatory behavior. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 37, 435–442.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meltzoff, A., & Moore, M. K. (1977). Imitation of facial and manual gestures by human neonates. Science, 198 75–78.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Monteith, M. J., Spicer, C. V., & Tooman, G. D. (1998). Consequences of stereotype suppression: Stereotypes on and not on the rebound. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 34, 355–377.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neuberg, S. L., Smith, D. M., Hoffman, J. C., & Russell, F. J. (1994). When we observe stigmatized and “normal” individuals interacting: Stigma by association. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 20, 196–209.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poirier, F., & McKee, J. (1999). Understanding human evolution 4th edn. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rudman, L. A., Ashmore, R. D., & Gary, M. L. (2001). “Unlearning” automatic biases: The malleability of implicit prejudice and stereotypes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 856–868.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stel, M., Blascovich, J., McGall, C., & Vonk, R. (2005). When mimicry makes it worse. Paper presented at the European Association for Experimental Social Psychology 14th General Meeting, Würzburg.

  • van Baaren, R. B., Holland, R. W., Kawakami, K., & van Knippenberg, A. (2003a). Mimicry and pro-social behavior. Psychological Science, 15, 71–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Baaren, R. B., Holland, R. W., Steenaert, B., van Knippenberg, A. (2003b). Mimicry for money: Behavioral consequences of imitation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 39, 393–398.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Baaren, R. B., Horgan, T. G, Chartrand, T. L., Dijkmans, M., & Horgan, T. G. (2004). The forest, the trees, and the chameleon: Context dependence and mimicry. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 453–459.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vaughan, K. B., & Lanzetta, J. T. (1981). The effect of modification of expressive displays on vicarious emotional arousal. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 17, 16–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walton, P. R. (2003). Implicit Associations Measurement Software (Version 1.0) [Computer software]. Christchruch, New Zealand: Dexterware.

    Google Scholar 

  • Webb, J. T. (1969). Subject speech rates as a function of interviewer behaviour. Language and Speech, 12, 54–67.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Webb, J. T. (1973). Interview synchrony: An investigation of two speech rate measures in an automated standardized interview. In B. Pope, & A. W., Siegman (Eds.), Studies in dyadic communication (pp. 115–133). New York: Pergamon.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Sarah Austin and Gemma Young for acting as confederates, Sanna Malinen, Katherine Stevenson and Steven Gaukrodger for their assistance in the data collection, coding and analysis, and Brenda Major and Jim Blascovich for comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript. This research was supported by grants U2043 and D3336 from the University of Canterbury. Dr. Yabar is now at the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, 8020, New Zealand

    Yanelia Yabar, Lucy Johnston & Lynden Miles

  2. University of Bath, Bath, BA2 7AY, UK

    Victoria Peace

Authors
  1. Yanelia Yabar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lucy Johnston
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  3. Lynden Miles
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  4. Victoria Peace
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lucy Johnston.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Yabar, Y., Johnston, L., Miles, L. et al. Implicit Behavioral Mimicry: Investigating the Impact of Group Membership. J Nonverbal Behav 30, 97–113 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10919-006-0010-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10919-006-0010-6

Keywords