Observing nonverbal signals being directed toward unfamiliar individuals is known to influence attitudes and behavior toward those individuals. Specifically, observing biased nonverbal signals in favor of one individual over another can produce nonverbal signal-consistent attitudes among preschool children. Research has also shown that people have a tendency to mimic the behavior of others. The phenomenon of mimicking another’s nonverbal emotional response and “catching” their emotions has long been established. However, it has yet to be examined whether this phenomenon is associated with attitude contagion. We hypothesized that preschool children who mimic the biased nonverbal signals of others will be more likely to adopt their social attitudes. Results of the current study indicated that as emotional mimicry became more frequent, children showed an increasingly greater probability of acquiring nonverbal signal-consistent attitudes. Moreover, the frequency of negative—but not positive—emotional mimicry was related to an increased probability of showing nonverbal signal-consistent attitudes. Our findings provide initial support for the notion that mimicking others’ biased nonverbal signals may help facilitate attitude contagion.

中文翻译：

---

模仿他人的非语言信号与态度传染性增加相关

观察到针对陌生人的非语言信号会影响对这些人的态度和行为。具体而言，观察偏爱的非语言信号对一个人的偏爱可能会导致学龄前儿童中非语言信号的态度一致。研究还表明，人们倾向于模仿他人的行为。模仿他人的非语言情感反应并“捕捉”他们的情感的现象早已建立。但是，尚需检查这种现象是否与态度传染有关。我们假设模仿其他人偏向非语言信号的学龄前儿童将更有可能采取他们的社交态度。当前研究的结果表明，随着情感模仿的出现越来越频繁，儿童表现出越来越多的获得非语言信号一致态度的可能性。此外，负面（而非正面）模仿情绪的出现频率与显示非语言信号一致态度的可能性增加有关。我们的发现为模仿他人偏向的非语言信号可能有助于促进态度传染的观点提供了初步支持。