TY - JOUR

T1 - Possibilities of imitation

AU - Oomen, Danna

AU - Genschow, Oliver

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - Humans tend to automatically imitate others. This tendency is generally explained by a common representation of observed and executed actions. However, people do not imitate each and any behavior they observe. Instead, they have different possibilities in terms of when, what, and whom they imitate. Here, we review the literature on the various factors that modulate imitative behavior to get an overview of these possibilities. While the reviewed literature supports the idea of possibilities in terms of how people imitate, this overview also emphasizes that the evidence for most factors has been rather mixed or preliminary. This calls for more replication studies, both conceptual and direct, before firm conclusions can be made for each modulating factor.

AB - Humans tend to automatically imitate others. This tendency is generally explained by a common representation of observed and executed actions. However, people do not imitate each and any behavior they observe. Instead, they have different possibilities in terms of when, what, and whom they imitate. Here, we review the literature on the various factors that modulate imitative behavior to get an overview of these possibilities. While the reviewed literature supports the idea of possibilities in terms of how people imitate, this overview also emphasizes that the evidence for most factors has been rather mixed or preliminary. This calls for more replication studies, both conceptual and direct, before firm conclusions can be made for each modulating factor.

U2 - 10.1177/2753869924125288

DO - 10.1177/2753869924125288

M3 - Journal articles

JO - Possibility studies & Society

JF - Possibility studies & Society

SN - 2753-8699

ER -