Nonconscious imitation has consequences that go beyond the dyad
People often nonconsciously imitate other people and imitation has positive consequences for the interaction. We argue that imitation not only has consequences for the way in which an imitated person feels towards the imitator, but that imitation also changes the way in which the imitated person feels towards other people in general. In two studies participants were unobtrusively imitated by a confederate and the effects on interpersonal closeness were measured. Experiment 1 showed that imitated participants feel closer to non-specified other people in general compared to non-imitated participants. Experiment 2 replicated this result using a seating distance measure. Together, these studies reveal that imitation has consequences that go beyond the dyad. Now the challenge is to look for a system, which can explain this implicit imitation recognition.
