London: You may have benefited from mimicking mannerisms and body language in social situations, but doing so in a job interview can annoy your potential employer, a new study has shown.
Scientists have discovered excessive copycatting in a job interview situation leaves an employer thinking you are incompetent, untrustworthy and not very likeable.
Participants in the study were asked to watch video of several staged interviews. In some clips, the interviewer was cordial, while in others the same interviewer was unfriendly or condescending.
The people being interviewed in the videos either mirrored the interviewer’s simple mannerisms - such as leg-crossing or chin-touching - or they refrained.
Interviewees were then evaluated on their general competence, trustworthiness and likeability by participants.
Despite the fact that the participants were not instructed to watch for mimicry and reported no awareness of it, it still influenced their evaluations.
Interviewees who mimicked the unfriendly ``boss`` were judged to be less competent than those who didn’t and their unconscious mirroring was observed as an error.
“Mimicry is a crucial part of social intelligence. But it is not enough to simply know how to mimic,” the Daily Mail quoted Piotr Winkielman, a professor of psychology at the university in San Diego, as saying.
“It’s also important to know when and when not to. The success of mirroring depends on mirroring the right people at the right time for the right reasons. Sometimes the socially intelligent thing to do is not to imitate.”
The study will be published in the journal Psychological Science.
ANI
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Cookies Setting
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device and the processing of information obtained via those cookies (including about your preferences, device and online activity) by us and our commercial partners to enhance site navigation, personalise ads, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. More information can be found in our Cookies and Privacy Policy. You can amend your cookie settings to reject non-essential cookies by clicking Cookie Settings below.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work or you may not be able to login.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advert as well as help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we may not know when you have visited our site, and may not be able to monitor its performance.