Shyness, self-focused attention, and behavioral mimicry during social interaction

Behavioral mimicry is the copying of another person's actions and serves interpersonal functions such as facilitating social reciprocity. Although behavioral mimicry is a ubiquitous phenomenon, there are individual differences in the susceptibility to mimic. Participants engaged in an online interaction with an experimenter who performed planned target behaviors. We coded participants' mimicking behavior, and participants self-reported their trait shyness and focus of attention during the interaction. We found an indirect effect of shyness predicting behavioral mimicry through self-focused attention. Specifically, higher shyness predicted heightened self-focused attention, which in turn was related to a lower likelihood of mimicking. We speculate that shy individuals may experience internally-focused attention during interactions which may impede their likelihood of perceiving and mimicking their partner's behavior.

Automated summary

Behavioral mimicry is a common phenomenon, but individuals vary in their susceptibility to mimic. Shyness predicts lower likelihood of mimicry through increased self-focused attention.