Effect of context on mimicry and emotional contagion : does disliking inhibit mimicry and emotional contagion?

Date
2008
Authors
Aylward, Alison Gastorf
Contributor
Advisor
Department
Instructor
Depositor
Speaker
Researcher
Consultant
Interviewer
Annotator
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Volume
Number/Issue
Starting Page
Ending Page
Alternative Title
Abstract
Previous research on mimicry suggests that this process occurs automatically in response to perception of a behavior or emotion. However, there is evidence that goals such as liking or having a desire to affiliate with another may affect mimicry of that person. This study tested the hypothesis that encountering a socially undesirable person will inhibit mimicry and contagion while encountering a highly socially desirable person will enhance mimicry and contagion. Participants were induced to dislike, feel neutral about, or like another person. They were then shown videos of that person recounting either a sad or happy story. Participants' reactions to the videos were taped and coded for mimicry. They also rated their own level of happiness after both the sad and happy stories. In partial confirmation of the hypothesis, results showed that for sad emotions, disliking the target caused significantly less mimicry than feeling neutral about the target while liking the target caused significantly more contagion than feeling neutral about the target However, contrary to the hypothesis, those who felt neutral mimicked the most and felt the least contagion. For the happy video, there was no effect of likeability condition on mimicry and contagion.
Description
Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2008.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 44-49).
viii, 49 leaves, bound 29 cm
Keywords
Citation
Extent
Format
Geographic Location
Time Period
Related To
Theses for the degree of Master of Arts (University of Hawaii at Manoa). Psychology; no. 3465
Table of Contents
Rights
All UHM dissertations and theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission from the copyright owner.
Rights Holder
Local Contexts
Email libraryada-l@lists.hawaii.edu if you need this content in ADA-compliant format.