Social Exclusion: the effects of non-mimicry on self-esteem, need to belong and sociability

Abstract

Although a great deal is known about mimicry, much less is known about non-mimicry in social interaction. The current research investigated the effects of social exclusion via non-mimicry on self-esteem, need to belong and motivation to socialise. Participants listened to music whilst nodding along to the beat, participants in an excluded condition listened to a faster version than those in an included condition causing the excluded participant to nod out of sync, creating a sense of social exclusion. Although the results found that participant’s self-esteem, need to belong and sociability were not affected by the experience of non-mimicry in social interaction, the excluded participants were observed mimicking the other participants. The researcher suggests that mimicry was used to re-establish inclusion.