TY - BOOK

T1 - Research Handbook on Social Influence

AU - Genschow, Oliver

AU - Cracco, Emiel

PY - 2025/2/20

Y1 - 2025/2/20

N2 - People have the automatic tendency to imitate their interaction partner. Such imitative behavior can operate as a form of social influence through two different pathways. On the one hand, the imitation pathway considers imitative behavior itself as a form of social influence, where the actions of others influence one's own behavior by triggering engagement in the same actions. On the other hand, the being imitated pathway relates to the idea that being imitated by a person has several downstream consequences for the person being mimicked, but also other parties. In this chapter, we review the underlying mechanisms of these two pathways and critically evaluate its supporting evidence. At the end, we propose avenues for future research to further investigate the link between imitation and social influence.

AB - People have the automatic tendency to imitate their interaction partner. Such imitative behavior can operate as a form of social influence through two different pathways. On the one hand, the imitation pathway considers imitative behavior itself as a form of social influence, where the actions of others influence one's own behavior by triggering engagement in the same actions. On the other hand, the being imitated pathway relates to the idea that being imitated by a person has several downstream consequences for the person being mimicked, but also other parties. In this chapter, we review the underlying mechanisms of these two pathways and critically evaluate its supporting evidence. At the end, we propose avenues for future research to further investigate the link between imitation and social influence.

KW - Psychologie

M3 - Sammelwerke und Anthologien

SN - 9781035309665

BT - Research Handbook on Social Influence

PB - Edward Elgar Publishing

ER -