How video calls affect mimicry and trust during interactions

Area of Science:

• Social Psychology
• Human Communication
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Social species, including humans, exhibit emotional mimicry crucial for social bonding.
• The impact of modern communication technologies like video calls on mimicry and trust remains under-explored.
• Understanding these effects is vital as online interactions become more prevalent.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how different communication media (video call, pre-recorded video, face-to-face) affect behavioral mimicry.
• To examine the relationship between mimicry and trust in various interaction settings.
• To determine if specific behaviors like yawning and scratching are mimicked differently online versus in-person.

Main Methods:

• Participant-confederate dyads (n=27) engaged in interactions via face-to-face, online video call, and pre-recorded video conditions.
• Mimicry of target behaviors (yawn, scratch) and control behaviors (lip-bite, face-touch) was measured.
• Trust was assessed using a trust game.

Main Results:

• Mimicry and trust levels were comparable between face-to-face and video call interactions.
• Both mimicry and trust were significantly lower when participants viewed pre-recorded videos.
• Target behaviors (yawn, scratch) showed significantly higher mimicry rates than control behaviors.

Conclusions:

• Online video calls can facilitate social mimicry and trust, comparable to in-person interactions.
• Pre-recorded videos are less effective in eliciting mimicry and trust, likely due to reduced interaction cues.
• These findings highlight the potential of video conferencing for maintaining social connection in digital environments.