Mimicry and Me: The Impact of Mimicry on Self-Construal

Abstract

Previous research has demonstrated that nonconscious interpersonal mimicry engenders liking, affiliation, empathy, and other positive social consequences. Some of these consequences have recently been shown to go beyond the dyad. In other words, interpersonal mimicry not only affects the way we feel toward our immediate interaction partner, but also affects our feelings and behavior toward other people in general. The goal of the present research is to understand why it is that nonconscious mimicry has consequences that go beyond the dyad. Specifically, it is hypothesized and found that being mimicked during social interaction shifts self–construals such that they become more interdependent and “other–oriented” (Study 1). Accordingly, interpersonal mimicry heightens one's perception of interpersonal closeness with nonspecified others (Study 2) and decreases one's physical proximity to others (Study 3). In a final experiment (Study 4), the impact of mimicry on self–construal is shown to mediate the positive social consequences of mimicry.