Maybe you have already observed that whenever you touched your hair during a conversation with your best friend, she/he did the same way right after you. Or that some people changed their way of talking, after spending some time with another person. This things illustrate, what researchers called “the chameleon effect”.

This effect means the automatic imitation of facial expression, laughing, posture, manners, voice tonality and other behaviors of people we interact with. In the presence of a group or a person, our expressive behavior changes passively and involuntary, becoming alike. The simple fact of perceiving one’s behavior increases the probability of adopting that behavior.

We all have this chameleon effect by imitating frequently and naturally others behavior, when we spend some time with them. Researchers sustain that similarities in behavior of couples married more than 20 years are more important then the ones found in recently married ones.

The chameleon effect is generally well received, the cause being that the imitation is perceived as a compliment and tightens bounds between people. For example, if a waiter is imitating his client’s behavior, he can easily double his tips. Also if the imitation is not sincere, it can appear as a sign of hypocrisy.

Still, researchers recommend for a better approach in human relations to have more compassion either than imitating people’s behavior. So, if you want to have good results, you might want to pay more attention to your own conduct when interacting with others.

Source: Serge Ciccotti, “150 petites experiences de psychologie pour mieux comprendre nos semblables”