The Too-Much-Mimicry Effect: Strong (vs. Subtle) Mimicry Impairs Liking and Trust in Distributive Negotiations

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The Too-Much-Mimicry Effect: Strong (vs. Subtle) Mimicry Impairs Liking and Trust in Distributive Negotiations. / Wessler, Janet; Loschelder, David D.; Fendel, Johannes C. et al.
In: Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, Vol. 48, No. 2, 06.2024, p. 253-276.

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@article{a8455cbaf0204bc4b3b1d8d4c847a63a,
title = "The Too-Much-Mimicry Effect: Strong (vs. Subtle) Mimicry Impairs Liking and Trust in Distributive Negotiations",
abstract = "We examined whether mimicking an interaction partner is universally advantageous or, provided the mimicry is particularly strong, whether it has detrimental impacts on interpersonal and negotiation outcomes. Participants interacted with a confederate who engaged in no, subtle, or strong mimicry and then negotiated. In laboratory Experiment 1 (N = 71) and Experiment 2 (N = 149), subtly (vs. not) mimicked participants liked the confederate more, while strongly (vs. subtly) mimicked participants liked and trusted less. In Experiment 2, strongly (vs. subtly) mimicked participants were less susceptible to the first-offer anchor. The online Experiment 3 (N = 180) corroborated the too-much-mimicry effect: When participants became aware of mimicry, it exerted detrimental effects on liking and trust irrespective of the experimental condition. Experiment 1 and Experiment 3 found no too-much-mimicry effect on anchoring susceptibility. These findings show that (a) sufficiently subtle mimicry positively influences interpersonal outcomes and (b) too much mimicry backfires.",
keywords = "Anchor effect, Mimicry, Negotiation, Nonverbal communication, Business psychology",
author = "Janet Wessler and Loschelder, {David D.} and Fendel, {Johannes C.} and Malte Friese",
note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2023.",
year = "2024",
month = jun,
doi = "10.1007/s10919-023-00446-5",
language = "English",
volume = "48",
pages = "253--276",
journal = "Journal of Nonverbal Behavior",
issn = "0191-5886",
publisher = "Springer Science+Business Media B.V.",
number = "2",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Too-Much-Mimicry Effect

T2 - Strong (vs. Subtle) Mimicry Impairs Liking and Trust in Distributive Negotiations

AU - Wessler, Janet

AU - Loschelder, David D.

AU - Fendel, Johannes C.

AU - Friese, Malte

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2023.

PY - 2024/6

Y1 - 2024/6

N2 - We examined whether mimicking an interaction partner is universally advantageous or, provided the mimicry is particularly strong, whether it has detrimental impacts on interpersonal and negotiation outcomes. Participants interacted with a confederate who engaged in no, subtle, or strong mimicry and then negotiated. In laboratory Experiment 1 (N = 71) and Experiment 2 (N = 149), subtly (vs. not) mimicked participants liked the confederate more, while strongly (vs. subtly) mimicked participants liked and trusted less. In Experiment 2, strongly (vs. subtly) mimicked participants were less susceptible to the first-offer anchor. The online Experiment 3 (N = 180) corroborated the too-much-mimicry effect: When participants became aware of mimicry, it exerted detrimental effects on liking and trust irrespective of the experimental condition. Experiment 1 and Experiment 3 found no too-much-mimicry effect on anchoring susceptibility. These findings show that (a) sufficiently subtle mimicry positively influences interpersonal outcomes and (b) too much mimicry backfires.

AB - We examined whether mimicking an interaction partner is universally advantageous or, provided the mimicry is particularly strong, whether it has detrimental impacts on interpersonal and negotiation outcomes. Participants interacted with a confederate who engaged in no, subtle, or strong mimicry and then negotiated. In laboratory Experiment 1 (N = 71) and Experiment 2 (N = 149), subtly (vs. not) mimicked participants liked the confederate more, while strongly (vs. subtly) mimicked participants liked and trusted less. In Experiment 2, strongly (vs. subtly) mimicked participants were less susceptible to the first-offer anchor. The online Experiment 3 (N = 180) corroborated the too-much-mimicry effect: When participants became aware of mimicry, it exerted detrimental effects on liking and trust irrespective of the experimental condition. Experiment 1 and Experiment 3 found no too-much-mimicry effect on anchoring susceptibility. These findings show that (a) sufficiently subtle mimicry positively influences interpersonal outcomes and (b) too much mimicry backfires.

KW - Anchor effect

KW - Mimicry

KW - Negotiation

KW - Nonverbal communication

KW - Business psychology

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85177564634&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/f25e5e67-ddab-3f51-8741-2699dac514db/

U2 - 10.1007/s10919-023-00446-5

DO - 10.1007/s10919-023-00446-5

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85177564634

VL - 48

SP - 253

EP - 276

JO - Journal of Nonverbal Behavior

JF - Journal of Nonverbal Behavior

SN - 0191-5886

IS - 2

ER -