Little evidence for cultural differences in automatic imitation

Abstract

Individuals tend to automatically imitate others' actions. Such imitative behavior is often assumed to be a universal phenomenon. However, most prior research has focused on Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) populations, leaving open whether people across different cultures imitate others in a similar manner. Ideomotor theory and the theory of objective self-awareness suggest that imitation is influenced by the extent to which individuals focus on the self versus others. Since cultural background strongly shapes self-construal-particularly along the collectivism-individualism dimension-cultural context may play a key role in shaping imitative behavior. To test this prediction, we examined automatic imitation in representative samples across 22 culturally diverse nations varying in collectivism and individualism. Consistent with prior findings, we replicated the basic automatic imitation effect across all countries but found no compelling evidence for cultural differences in automatic imitation. These findings hint to the possibility that automatic imitation is a universal phenomenon with little room for strong modulations by culture.