The Effects of Incidental Similarity with a Stranger on Mimicry Behavior

ABSTRACT

For social psychologists, mimicry could serve a function of “social glue”, binding people together and creating harmonious relationships.

In three experiments, we used the paradigm of incidental similarity in order to enhance the desire to create affiliation and rapport between a participant and a stranger, and to evaluate its effect on mimicry behavior.

Undergraduates who believed they had the same first name (Study 1), birthday (Study 2) or fingerprint similarity (Study 3) as a female-target presented on a videotape were more likely to mimic the nonverbal behavior of the target than participants who did not perceive a similarity with the target.

These results support the notion that mimicry will help us to create affiliation and rapport because the desire to build such relations enhances when incidental similarity exists between two strangers.

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