When Behaviors Are Contagious and Mimicry Matters: A 5-Step Framework for Predicting the Spontaneous Transmission of Automatic Behavior
Abstract
Behavioral contagion and behavioral mimicry refer to the spontaneous nonconscious transmission of similar behaviors between individuals, a widespread phenomenon in group-living animals that is central to group cohesion. A variety of research fields investigate behavioral contagion and mimicry, and they do so from differing perspectives and social contexts. Collectively, these fields have identified numerous modulators of this phenomenon. Our ultimate understanding of how this process operates in a natural setting will require integrating all these modulating processes to produce a comprehensive framework that can be used across disciplines. In this article, I propose a 5-Step Framework that encompasses the prominent questions of the current fields of investigation. Five conditions must be met for behavioral transmission to occur: (a) Sensory information must be perceivable by the observer, (b) the observer must be attentive to the sensory information, (c) the observer must be capable of performing the behavior in an automatic manner, (d) the observer must be free from disaffiliation goals associated with the actor, and (e) the potential benefits must be greater than the potential costs of mimicking the behavior. Within the five sections, I review certain research topics relevant to each. I indicate how the framework may be used to evaluate the validity and assumptions associated with a study design. I also discuss the research in terms of potential mechanisms, including bottom-up (perception-action) processing and top-down (inhibitory) processing, thereby providing a broader perspective on how multiple neural mechanisms might work together to generate or prevent behavioral transmission.
Keywords: behavioral transmission, behavioral mimicry, behavioral contagion, framework, perception-action