{"id":141,"date":"2021-02-13T00:23:50","date_gmt":"2021-02-13T00:23:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.harvard.edu\/socialconnection\/?p=141"},"modified":"2021-02-13T00:23:50","modified_gmt":"2021-02-13T00:23:50","slug":"monkey-see-monkey-do-and-monkeys-sister-does-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/socialconnection\/2021\/02\/13\/monkey-see-monkey-do-and-monkeys-sister-does-too\/","title":{"rendered":"Monkey see, monkey do (and monkey\u2019s sister does too)"},"content":{"rendered":"

[Ari]<\/p>\n

The other day, I was walking down the street and I spotted another person walking towards me up ahead. They got closer and closer, seeming to walk in the middle of the sidewalk, unable to pick a side. Finally, the moment of reckoning happens. We both step to the same side. Then immediately to the other side. All accompanied with some awkward laughs and muttered apologies. Hopefully it stops there. BUT it doesn\u2019t always. It just keeps happening, and sometimes I worry I\u2019ll be eternally stuck awkwardly mirroring some random stranger.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Something sort of like this<\/span><\/a>. I can\u2019t imagine anyone really wanting to be caught in this situation, outside of a rom-com. It\u2019s NEVER as cute as they make it look.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This whole situation is incredibly uncomfortable but slightly better when it occurs between someone you know. Even better if it\u2019s a sibling you have a good relationship with. Whenever this happens with my brother and I, we wrestle and pretend like our encounter never happened once the moment passes. Sibling relationships will probably be the longest relationship a person has (in general). So with this extraordinary relationship, does this change mimicry interactions, specifically when compared to strangers?<\/span><\/p>\n

What I have deemed \u201cthe sidewalk shuffle\u201d may be slightly less awkward between friends when compared to strangers. Interactions between strangers are just that. Strange. But imitation and mimicry can actually make some interactions better. Mimicry is much more common than the average person probably thinks and makes these interactions smoother and can lead to increased feelings of affiliation (Leander et al., 2012). Mimicry tends not to happen to the same extent with strangers than with friends or closer acquaintances (Yabar, et al., 2006). People also feel inappropriate levels of mimicry when meeting people for the first time are off-putting, whether it is over-imitating or under-imitating (Lakin & Chartrand, 2003). Imitation and the \u201ccorrect\u201d amount are very context dependent. For example, being a part of an in-group, like both participants being Christian, can lead to increased mimicry and participants generally reporting a greater liking for the other in lab settings (Yabar, et al., 2006).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On the opposite end of the spectrum, belonging to an outgroup (not quite dislike, just different) has been shown to actually decrease imitation in lab settings and may derive from an attempt to further distance themselves from those in the outgroup (Yabar et al., 2006).<\/span><\/p>\n

Liking or disliking someone seems to have a very big impact on the amount of mimicry occurring in social interactions. With that in mind, the sometimes-complicated sibling relationships and mimicry are on a very different level.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Siblings [Ellie]<\/span><\/p>\n

Siblings are weird. There aren\u2019t many people in the world that we can go from loving to hating (while also still loving) and back again in the span of about three seconds. As someone with six siblings, I have plenty of firsthand experience with the treasured and often complicated relationships involved with having brothers and sisters.<\/span><\/p>\n

The concept of imitation takes on a different role with siblings than it does with others. As previously mentioned, social mimicry can be used as a technique in affiliating with others and determining, or trying to increase one\u2019s own, likability (Lakin & Chartrand, 2003). We know most siblings have the tendency to imitate each other. Seriously, what parent hasn\u2019t witnessed a meltdown or two that starts with \u201cSHE\u2019S COPYING ME!\u201d? With siblings, however, there\u2019s an additional influence that comes into play.<\/span><\/p>\n

Studies have shown that siblings play a significant role in the social and cognitive development of infants and toddlers (Howe & Recchia, 2014). Importantly, kids learn a lot from their brothers and sisters by watching them and observing how they move about in the world (Barr & Hayne, 2003). I learned a ton from my sister growing up, however it wasn\u2019t necessarily because she was an expert teacher. I watched her dance and learned to love dancing; I saw her helping our parents cook dinner and I wanted to help as well. My older sister had this powerful influence on me by being a relatable person whom I felt comfortable imitating, and consequently learning from.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But how much of an influence can imitating siblings really have on development? It\u2019s actually quite significant. Because infants show the ability to imitate at as early as six months of age (Collie & Hayne, 2003), older siblings are some of the first teachers in infants’ lives. The infants aren\u2019t just learning unrelated skills via mimicry, though; they\u2019re also perfecting the art of imitation itself. One study showed that children with brothers and sisters are <\/span>better<\/span><\/i> at imitating than those without. In the study, children with siblings had the tendency to observe and copy the behaviors of others without instruction more than only children did (Barr & Hayne, 2003).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So, children with siblings are better imitators, why does this matter? The link between mimicry and affiliation indicates that good imitators would be better at creating connections with others and avoiding the off-putting nature of over and under imitation. In fact, infants who are strong imitators are known to be stronger social communicators, especially in terms of language understanding (Hanika & Boyer, 2019). Having infants develop this skill early on sets them up for success in social situations in the future.<\/span><\/p>\n

Perfecting the social art that is imitation can have various benefits outside of increasing your winning percentage in Simon Says. Mimicry is vital in many different social interactions, and people have an intuitive sense of how much they like someone which is linked, at least somewhat, to imitation levels (Lakin & Chartrand, 2003). Mimicry with strangers and acquaintances is strongly studied in this affiliative context, but it takes on a strong role in the development of young children with siblings. Imitation for those children is a powerful learning mechanism, that teaches not only new motor skills but also social skills, like mimicry itself. With all of that said, I guess I should probably reach out to my sister and thank her for being there for me to copy all those years\u2026.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

References<\/span><\/p>\n

Awkward Encounter | The Amazing World of Gumball | Cartoon Network<\/span><\/i>. (2016). <\/span>Youtube<\/span><\/i>. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=dBnFr57KZIY.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Barr, Rachel, & Hayne, Harlene. (2003). It’s Not What You Know, It’s Who You Know: Older siblings facilitate imitation during infancy. <\/span>International Journal of Early Years Education,11<\/span><\/i>(1), 7-21. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/0966976032000066055<\/span><\/p>\n

Collie, Rachael, & Hayne, Harlene. (1999). Deferred imitation by 6\u2010 and 9\u2010month\u2010old Infants: More evidence for declarative memory. <\/span>Developmental Psychobiology,<\/span><\/i> 35<\/span><\/i>(2), 83-90. <\/span>https:\/\/onlinelibrary-wiley-com.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu\/doi\/pdfdirect\/10.1002\/(SICI)1098-2302(199909)35%3A2%3C83%3A%3AAID-DEV1%3E3.0.CO%3B2-S<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Hanika, Leslie, & Boyer, Wanda. (2019) Imitation and Social Communication in Infants. <\/span>Early Childhood Education Journal<\/span><\/i>, 47(5), 615\u2013626. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s10643-019-00943-7<\/span><\/p>\n

Howe, Nina, & Recchia, Holly. (2014). Sibling Relations and Their Impact on Children\u2019s Development. <\/span>Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development<\/span><\/i>, 1-8. http:\/\/www.child-encyclopedia.com\/peer-relations\/according-experts\/sibling-relations-and-their-impact-childrens-development<\/span><\/p>\n

Lakin, J. L., & Chartrand, T. L. (2003). Using Nonconscious Behavioral Mimicry to Create Affiliation and Rapport. <\/span>Psychological Science<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>14<\/span><\/i>(4), 334\u2013339. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/1467-9280.14481\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Leander, N. P., Chartrand, T. L., & Bargh, J. A. (2012). You Give Me the Chills: Embodied Reactions to Inappropriate Amounts of Behavioral Mimicry. <\/span>Psychological Science<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>23<\/span><\/i>(7), 772\u2013779. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/0956797611434535\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Yabar, Y., Johnston, L., Miles, L., & Peace, V. (2006). Implicit Behavioral Mimicry: Investigating the Impact of Group Membership. <\/span>Journal of Nonverbal Behavior<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>30<\/span><\/i>(3), 97\u2013113. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s10919-006-0010-6 <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Ari] The other day, I was walking down the street and I spotted another person walking towards me up ahead. They got closer and closer, seeming to walk in the middle of the sidewalk, unable to pick a side. Finally, the moment of reckoning happens. We both step to the same side. Then immediately to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9937,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/socialconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/socialconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/socialconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/socialconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9937"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/socialconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/socialconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":143,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/socialconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141\/revisions\/143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/socialconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/socialconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/socialconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}