TY - JOUR
T1 - Little chameleons
T2 - The development of social mimicry during early childhood
AU - van Schaik, Johanna E.
AU - Hunnius, Sabine
PY - 2016/7/1
Y1 - 2016/7/1
N2 - Adults use behavioral mimicry to blend in with (or stand out from) their social environment. Adopting another's mannerisms and behaviors, or "mimicking", communicates liking and similarity between interaction partners and has been shown to serve as an implicit affiliation mechanism. Given this important social function, it is surprising that so little is known about the development of mimicry. In two studies, we investigated mimicry and its social sensitivity during early childhood. Children of 4 to 6 years (Study 1) and 3 years (Study 2) first chose a novel group based on their color preference. Following a baseline phase, children observed videos of in-group and out-group models performing behaviors that are typically mimicked in adults. Importantly, the children received neither instructions nor encouragement to copy the behaviors. Both 3-year-olds and 4- to 6-year-olds displayed behavioral mimicry. Furthermore, 4- to 6-year-olds mimicked the in-group model more than the out-group model, and this in-group bias was also evident in their explicit group preferences. Together, these studies present the first evidence for behavioral mimicry and its social sensitivity during early childhood. Placed in the context of social development, the findings provide a necessary contribution to current developmental and psychological theories on mimicry and behavior copying.
AB - Adults use behavioral mimicry to blend in with (or stand out from) their social environment. Adopting another's mannerisms and behaviors, or "mimicking", communicates liking and similarity between interaction partners and has been shown to serve as an implicit affiliation mechanism. Given this important social function, it is surprising that so little is known about the development of mimicry. In two studies, we investigated mimicry and its social sensitivity during early childhood. Children of 4 to 6 years (Study 1) and 3 years (Study 2) first chose a novel group based on their color preference. Following a baseline phase, children observed videos of in-group and out-group models performing behaviors that are typically mimicked in adults. Importantly, the children received neither instructions nor encouragement to copy the behaviors. Both 3-year-olds and 4- to 6-year-olds displayed behavioral mimicry. Furthermore, 4- to 6-year-olds mimicked the in-group model more than the out-group model, and this in-group bias was also evident in their explicit group preferences. Together, these studies present the first evidence for behavioral mimicry and its social sensitivity during early childhood. Placed in the context of social development, the findings provide a necessary contribution to current developmental and psychological theories on mimicry and behavior copying.
KW - Behavioral mimicry
KW - Early childhood
KW - Imitation
KW - Novel groups
KW - Social copying
KW - Social development
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84962375361&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84962375361&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jecp.2016.03.003
DO - 10.1016/j.jecp.2016.03.003
M3 - Article
C2 - 27060416
AN - SCOPUS:84962375361
SN - 0022-0965
VL - 147
SP - 71
EP - 81
JO - Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
JF - Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
ER -