A Dyadic Perspective on Speech Accommodation and Social Connection: Both Partners' Rejection Sensitivity Matters

Area of Science:

• Social Psychology
• Interpersonal Dynamics
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Previous research suggests mimicry facilitates social connection, particularly for individuals high in rejection sensitivity (RS).
• Confederate paradigms indicate mimicry is adaptive for rejection-sensitive individuals.
• Dyadic perspectives propose that perceived connection through mimicry depends on the RS levels of both interaction partners.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether mimicry's impact on perceived social connection is contingent on the dyadic interplay of rejection sensitivity (RS).
• To examine how matched versus mismatched RS levels within dyads influence phonetic accommodation and subsequent feelings of connection.

Main Methods:

• Fifty college women participated in a dyadic cooperative task, paired based on matched or mismatched dispositional rejection sensitivity (RS).
• A psycholinguistics paradigm assessed phonetic accommodation between partners.
• Independent listeners judged the degree of speech accommodation and perceived connection.

Main Results:

• In dyads with matched RS levels, findings aligned with confederate paradigms, showing adaptive mimicry.
• In mismatched RS dyads, an asymmetry emerged: high-RS individuals accommodated more but reported lower perceived connection.
• Low-RS individuals' reduced accommodation in mismatched dyads mediated the lower perceived connection experienced by their high-RS partners.

Conclusions:

• Mimicry's adaptive function in social connection is not universal but depends on the dyadic context and the specific RS needs of each partner.
• Mismatched RS levels disrupt the positive social connection typically associated with mimicry.
• Understanding mimicry as a dyadic process is crucial for establishing its role in adaptive social connection.