Using nonconscious behavioral mimicry to create affiliation and rapport.

Journal Article (Clinical Trial;Journal Article)

Nonconscious behavioral mimicry occurs when a person unwittingly imitates the behaviors of another person. This mimicry has been attributed to a direct link between perceiving a behavior and performing that same behavior. The current experiments explored whether having a goal to affiliate augments the tendency to mimic the behaviors of interaction partners. Experiment 1 demonstrated that having an affiliation goal increases nonconscious mimicry, and Experiment 2 further supported this proposition by demonstrating that people who have unsuccessfully attempted to affiliate in an interaction subsequently exhibit more mimicry than those who have not experienced such a failure. Results suggest that behavioral mimicry may be part of a person's repertoire of behaviors, used nonconsciously, when there is a desire to create rapport.

Full Text

Duke Authors

Cited Authors

  • Lakin, JL; Chartrand, TL

Published Date

  • July 2003

Published In

Volume / Issue

  • 14 / 4

Start / End Page

  • 334 - 339

PubMed ID

  • 12807406

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1467-9280

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0956-7976

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1111/1467-9280.14481

Language

  • eng