Individuals automatically mimic a wide range of different behaviors, and such mimicking behavior has several social benefits. One of the landmark findings in the literature is that being mimicked increases liking for the mimicker. Research in cognitive neuroscience demonstrated that mentally simulating motor actions is neurophysiologically similar to engaging in these actions. Such research would predict that merely imagining being mimicked produces the same results as actually experiencing mimicry. To test this prediction, we conducted two experiments. In Experiment 1, being mimicked increased liking for the mimicker only when mimicry was directly experienced, but not when it was merely imagined. Experiment 2 replicated this finding within a high-powered online sample: merely imagining being mimicked does not produce the same effects as being actually mimicked. Theoretical and practical implications of these experiments are discussed.

个人会自动模仿各种不同的行为，而这种模仿行为具有多种社会效益。文献中具有里程碑意义的发现之一是，被模仿会增加对模仿者的喜爱。认知神经科学研究表明，心理模拟运动行为在神经生理学上与参与这些行为相似。这样的研究可以预测，仅仅想象被模仿会产生与实际经历模仿相同的结果。为了测试这个预测，我们进行了两个实验。在实验 1 中，只有当直接体验到模仿时，被模仿者才会增加对模仿者的喜爱，而仅仅在想象时不会。实验 2 在一个强大的在线样本中复制了这一发现：仅仅想象被模仿不会产生与实际被模仿相同的效果。讨论了这些实验的理论和实践意义。