TY - JOUR

T1 - Imagining is Not Observing

T2 - The Role of Simulation Processes Within the Mimicry-Liking Expressway

AU - Kulesza, Wojciech

AU - Chrobot, Nina

AU - Dolinski, Dariusz

AU - Muniak, Paweł

AU - Bińkowska, Dominika

AU - Grzyb, Tomasz

AU - Genschow, Oliver

N1 - Funding Information: This research was supported by: NCN (Narodowe Centrum Nauki – Polish National Science Centre), Preludium Bis 1 grant, granted to Wojciech Kulesza (Number: 2019/35/O/HS6/00420). Open access of this article was financed by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education in Poland under the 2019–2022 program, Regional Initiative of Excellence", Project Number 012/RID/2018/19. Publisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s).

PY - 2022/9/1

Y1 - 2022/9/1

N2 - Individuals automatically mimic a wide range of different behaviors, and such mimicking behavior has several social benefits. One of the landmark findings in the literature is that being mimicked increases liking for the mimicker. Research in cognitive neuroscience demonstrated that mentally simulating motor actions is neurophysiologically similar to engaging in these actions. Such research would predict that merely imagining being mimicked produces the same results as actually experiencing mimicry. To test this prediction, we conducted two experiments. In Experiment 1, being mimicked increased liking for the mimicker only when mimicry was directly experienced, but not when it was merely imagined. Experiment 2 replicated this finding within a high-powered online sample: merely imagining being mimicked does not produce the same effects as being actually mimicked. Theoretical and practical implications of these experiments are discussed.

AB - Individuals automatically mimic a wide range of different behaviors, and such mimicking behavior has several social benefits. One of the landmark findings in the literature is that being mimicked increases liking for the mimicker. Research in cognitive neuroscience demonstrated that mentally simulating motor actions is neurophysiologically similar to engaging in these actions. Such research would predict that merely imagining being mimicked produces the same results as actually experiencing mimicry. To test this prediction, we conducted two experiments. In Experiment 1, being mimicked increased liking for the mimicker only when mimicry was directly experienced, but not when it was merely imagined. Experiment 2 replicated this finding within a high-powered online sample: merely imagining being mimicked does not produce the same effects as being actually mimicked. Theoretical and practical implications of these experiments are discussed.

KW - Chameleon effect

KW - Imagination

KW - Imitation

KW - Liking

KW - Mental simulation

KW - Mimicry

KW - Business psychology

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85127611507&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/f6c642c0-9ac1-3069-9c11-817aed2dd2f7/

U2 - 10.1007/s10919-022-00399-1

DO - 10.1007/s10919-022-00399-1

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85127611507

VL - 46

SP - 233

EP - 246

JO - Journal of Nonverbal Behavior

JF - Journal of Nonverbal Behavior

SN - 0191-5886

IS - 3

ER -