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Self-categorization as a basis of behavioural mimicry: experiments in The Hive

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Version 2 2023-06-12, 09:34
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posted on 2023-06-12, 09:34 authored by Fergus G Neville, John DruryJohn Drury, Stephen D Reicher, Sanjeedah ChoudhurySanjeedah Choudhury, Clifford Stott, Roger Ball, Daniel C Richardson
Introduction Do we always do what others do, and, if not, when and under what conditions do we do so? In this paper we test the hypothesis that mimicry is moderated by the mere knowledge of whether the source is a member of the same social category as ourselves. Methods We investigated group influence on mimicry using three tasks on a software platform which interfaces with mobile computing devices to allow the controlled study of collective behaviour in an everyday environment. Results Overall, participants (N = 965) were influenced by the movements of confederates (represented as dots on a screen) who belonged to their own category in both purposive and incidental tasks. Conclusion Our results are compatible with collective level explanations of social influence premised on shared social identification. This includes both a heuristic of unintended mimicry (the acts of group members are diagnostic of how one should act), and communication of affiliation (based on a desire to make one’s group cohesive). The results are incompatible with traditional ‘contagion’ accounts which suggest mimicry is automatic and inevitable. The results have practical implications for designing behavioural interventions which can harness the power of copying behaviour, for example in emergency evacuations.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

PLoS One

ISSN

1932-6203

Publisher

Public Library of Science (PLoS)

Issue

10

Volume

15

Page range

1-17

Article number

a0241227

Department affiliated with

  • Psychology Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2020-10-30

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2020-11-03

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2020-10-29

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