Chameleon Effect: When We Imitate Others Without Realizing It
If you are a regular at nature documentaries, you will surely have noticed that animals do all kinds of bizarre things to better adapt to their environment. One of the most striking strategies used to survive in environments with biological diversity, for example, is imitate other species
As representatives of this example we have everything from butterflies that simulate having a face on their outstretched wings to harmless snakes that have evolved to resemble vipers with a deadly bite. No matter how cumbersome it may seem to maintain this kind of disguise, what is clear is that it works for them: otherwise, natural evolution would not have carved their masks with that precision.
This ability to imitate other organisms is known as mimicry, and human beings also make use of it, although we do not usually realize it. This phenomenon is known as the chameleon effect
It is known as the “chameleon effect” the tendency to unconsciously imitate the people with whom we are interacting
The existence of this behavioral pattern is well documented, and it seems to be triggered by the simple perception of the other person. As soon as we come into contact with her, we have a good chance of starting to imitate her tone of voice, posture and other subtle aspects related to non-verbal language.
It is believed that the reason for the chameleon effect is to establish something similar to a synchronicity with the other person that allows you to please her more and facilitate communication. Furthermore, the most empathetic people tend to devote themselves more to the task of imitating the interlocutor. On the other hand, it is very likely that mirror neurons are directly involved in this curious phenomenon.
However, the chameleon effect is a double-edged sword. Not only do you imitate the positive aspects of the other person, those that predispose you to have a communicative and open attitude: negative aspects are also imitated That is to say, our tendency towards establishing synchronicity with the interlocutor does not consist of using a specific non-verbal language and voice to please the other person, on the contrary.
Because of the flexibility involved in dealing with many people in many different moods, the chameleon effect involves replicating parts of another’s behavior, whether friendly or not This can be harmful to us, as has been proven in recent research.
The chameleon effect experiment
In this experiment, a simulated telephone interview was conducted with a series of job candidates. The questions were recorded, and were formulated with a negative tone of voice (previously these recordings had been evaluated according to the scales “enthusiasm-boredom”, “positive-negative” and “cold-warm”). During job interviews, It was confirmed that the candidates tended to imitate the tone of voice from the recordings although no one realized it.
Furthermore, adopting a negative overall voice significantly damaged the impression they made on a jury in charge of evaluating them as potential employees. A vicious circle is thus created or, in this case, a self-fulfilling prophecy: the interviewer who has low expectations of being satisfied with the candidate uses a negative overall voice. The candidate, in turn, endorses that tone of voice and it makes the interviewer reaffirm his prejudices, when in reality he is only seeing a reflection of his own communicative disposition. And all this happens, of course, without either of them realizing how irrational this dynamic is.
It is clear that although the chameleon effect is reminiscent of the mimicry used by some small animal species, its function is not the same. In the first case the objective is to survive, while in the second… it is not clear. In fact, It could be that this tendency to unconsciously imitate was of no use ; After all, not all the characteristics that have emerged from biological evolution are practical.
However, there is an area in which this mimicry is used as a resource: sales. Experienced salespeople learn to imitate the gestures, rhythms and even postures of their interlocutors. to better convince them by creating a “state of mutual attunement” Whether this measure is really effective or not, in any case, is highly debatable.
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