Mimicry -- the tendency to automatically copy the gestures of an interaction partner -- has often been referred to as a "social glue." Most research has found that when others subtly mimic us, we like it. But new work by Jia Liu and colleagues is suggesting that mimicry might not always be a plus, especially when money is involved.
Money is a prominent symbol and resource in American society. It's also one that usually signifies a sense of individuality and competition. As such, the presence of money might be expected to enhance most people's focus on their own immediate needs and desires. In so doing, it might also result in decreasing their motivations for interconnection with others. To examine this possibility, the researchers utilized a common technique for studying the effects of mimicry, but with one small twist. They made money salient.
Here's the way it worked. Upon arriving at the lab, half of the research participants were primed to think about money. All of the participants then individually engaged in conversation with a confederate (i.e., someone who they believed was another research participant but who actually worked for the researchers). The confederate either subtly mimicked some of their gestures or refrained from mimicking them. In the conditions where the idea of money was not made salient beforehand, the usual effect emerged. Participants reported liking the confederate more if he had mimicked them (even though, of course, they had no conscious awareness of being mimicked) than if he had not. However, when participants entered the conversation thinking about money, the opposite occurred. Here, mimicking resulted in the confederate being liked less. Why? One reason may be that the concept of money increases desires for individuality and separation from others (which, of course, also means that you don't have to spend your money on or share it with others). Given that mimicry is usually perceived by the mind as a cue for a desire of another to affiliate, in the context of money this cues may not be as welcome. A focus on economic capital may lead to a devaluing of social capital.
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