Social resemblance, like group membership or similar attitudes, increases the mimicry of the observed emotional facial display. In this study, we investigate whether facial self-resemblance (manipulated by computer morphing) modulates emotional mimicry in a similar manner. Participants watched dynamic expressions of faces that either did or did not resemble their own, while their facial muscle activity was measured using EMG. Additionally, after each presentation, respondents completed social evaluations of the faces they saw. The results show that self-resemblance evokes convergent facial reactions. More specifically, participants mimicked the happiness and, to a lesser extent, the anger of self-resembling faces. In turn, the happiness of non-resembling faces was less likely mimicked than in the case of self-resembling faces, while anger evoked a more divergent, smile-like response. Finally, we found that social evaluations were in general increased by happiness displays, but not influenced by resemblance. Overall, the study demonstrates an interesting and novel phenomenon, particularly that mimicry can be modified by relatively subtle cues of physical resemblance.

社会相似性，如群体成员身份或类似态度，增加了观察到的情绪面部显示的模仿性。在这项研究中，我们调查了面部自相似性（通过计算机变形操作）是否以类似的方式调节情绪模仿。参与者观看与自己相似或不相似的面部的动态表情，同时使用 EMG 测量他们的面部肌肉活动。此外，在每次演示后，受访者都会对他们看到的面孔进行社会评价。结果表明，自相似会引起收敛的面部反应。更具体地说，参与者模仿了自我相似面孔的快乐，并在较小程度上模仿了愤怒。反过来，与自我相似的面孔相比，模仿不相似面孔的幸福感的可能性较小，而愤怒则引发了一种更加不同的、类似微笑的反应。最后，我们发现社会评价通常会因幸福表现而增加，但不受相似性的影响。总体而言，这项研究展示了一种有趣且新颖的现象，特别是模仿可以通过相对微妙的物理相似性线索进行修改。