Abstract:
People often mimic each other. Research has examined the positive social benefits of
mimicry and is starting to examine what factors lead to increased mimicry. Two studies
examine whether a participant is more likely to mimic nonverbal behavior of someone
who shares the same opinion as the participant than someone who does not. The
participant made a decision between 2 vacation destinations and discussed the choice in a
3 person group. The 2 other group members were confederates. One agreed with the
participant¿s choice and one disagreed. Each confederate emitted a different nonverbal
behavior consistently throughout discussion. Results support the hypothesis that the
participant would be more likely to mimic nonverbal behavior of the confederate who
agreed with him or her.
