The Cute Chameleon: The Effect of Attractiveness Level on Behavioral Mimicry Within Same-Sex Dyads

Abstract

Behavioral mimicry is the changing of movements or mannerisms to match that of an interaction partner. The phenomenon occurs nonconsciously and has been shown to increase the level of liking between interaction partners (Chartrand & Bargh, 1999). Moderators of mimicry include in-group membership (Lakin, Chartrand, & Arkin, 2008), desire to be liked (Lakin & Chartrand, 2003), and social exclusion (Lakin, Chartrand, & Arkin, 2008). Attractiveness level has been shown to have a substantial effect on how individuals perceive a person (Ahola, Angela, Christianson, & Hellstrm, 2009). The current study addressed whether attractiveness level of a female in a projected video would impact the amount of mimicry exhibited by females participating in the study. Additionally, this study compared two interactions for each participant to determine not only a baseline comparison for each action performed, but also to determine which action performed by the confederate was more likely to be mimicked. Finally, this study investigated whether using a video projection of a confederate as an interaction partner would be as effective as a live confederate in the room through the comparison of the results of the current study with previous work.