Bruce Hood - The Self Illusion

The Human Chameleon

When you consider the power of groups in these studies, it seems unlikely that anyone was totally unaware of their behaviour in the conformity and obedience experiments of the 1960s and 1970s. People were also probably aware of their actions in the real-life examples of blind obedience described by Zimbardo. They simply don’t feel responsible for their actions. They may still believe in their self illusion, that they could do otherwise should they wish, but rather they prefer to suspend their decision-making in order to fit in with others or obey authority figures. It’s not a pleasant realization, but then we can always justify it later by weighing up what is in our best interests in the long term. It is our old friend cognitive dissonance, again.

Sometimes our behaviour can also be hijacked unknowingly by the influence of those around us. This is when the self is covertly manipulated. In these situations we are not even aware that we are being shaped by social influences. For example, Dutch psychologist Ap Dijksterhuis recalls the time when he and a few members of the Nijmegen Psychology Department went to watch a soccer match. 42On their walk to the stadium, the academics behaving calmly and orderly were soon surrounded by hundreds of yelling and shouting soccer fans and hooligans. At that point something odd happened. One of academics saw an empty beer can and, in what seemed to be an impulsive act, he kicked it violently as far away as possible. For a moment, he stood there, transfixed and aghast at what he had just done. He was no longer an individual – he had become like the crowd around him.

This change in behaviour to match others around us is known as the ‘chameleon effect’ 43after the exotic lizard that can change its skin colour to blend in with its surroundings. It is not a deliberate effort to change but rather reflects the automatic way that we mimic others around us. This can be anything from simple postures, expressions and gestures to more complicated patterns of behaviour such as speech or moods. Simply the way we move about can be influenced by others without us even being really aware. The brain’s mirroring system that is activated during our own movements that can also be triggered by the goal-directed actions of another when we observe them performing the same goal. These mirror neurons provide a convenient way of mapping the behaviour of others directly into our own brains through a process much like resonance. It’s like when you are in a guitar salesroom and strike the ‘G’ string loudly enough on one guitar, all the other ‘G’ strings on all the other guitars will eventually vibrate in synchrony.

Human mirroring works the same way. Most of us have a repertoire of behaviours that can be triggered by others without us being aware that we are mirroring someone else’s movements. We may cross our legs, yawn, stroke our nose, play with our hair and change the way we speak or sit simply because we are unwittingly copying another person. 44This unconscious imitation, known as mimicry, is a powerful mechanism for binding the self to others. 45It is not entirely automatic as we only mimic those we like in a virtuous self-fulfilling circle – we copy others who we like, who in turn like us more, thereby increasing the likelihood that they will copy us in a synchronized sycophantic symphony of mutual appreciation. 46

Not only do we like people who mimic us more but we are willing to help them out if they request favours from us. 47We even feel like a better human being after we have been copied and it can last long after the encounter. In one study, after being mimicked, participants donated twice as much money to a charity box as they left the experiment compared to those who had not been copied even though the donations were anonymous. 48We even tip waitresses more when they mimic us. 49

However, we are not simply puppets at the mercy of others tugging on our strings to control how we feel about them. Even though we may not be consciously aware of the mimicry, riding on top of this mirroring system of social interaction is an appraisal veto that seems to be double-checking for interlopers. We tend to mimic only those people from our own social circles and those with whom we want to be affiliated. We don’t mimic those outside our social groups. In fact, we dislike individuals from outside of our social group more if they mimic us. In one study, white Dutch adults who scored highly on tests that measure prejudice disliked a computer-generated avatar that mimicked them if it appeared to have a Moroccan face rather than a white European one. 50

The Rhythm of Life

This process of liking others who copy us appears early in development. The young infant’s facial imitation could be an early example of mimicry where the motor system of the brain is automatically triggered by watching the movements of others. This might explain why the repertoire of behaviours is very limited at first – this is not too surprising given what movements newborns can actually make by themselves. Over the next twelve months the opportunity to copy others increases and the Machiavellian babies look out for those who copy them. Five-month-old babies placed in a baby walker that enables them to scoot about the floor prefer to approach a stranger who has mimicked them and acted in a synchronized manner than one who did not respond to the babies’ behaviour in a contingent way. 51Sometimes it is not only the lack of mimicking that puts babies off, but the timing and amount of effort. Mothers with post-natal depression can have either a very flat emotionless interaction with their babies or go over the top with an exuberant flurry of attempted interaction. Either way, two-month-old babies prefer the more measured and synchronized interactions. 52

Synchrony seems to be an important characteristic of social interaction. Turn-taking is essential during conversations as anyone listening to a radio interview knows that not everyone can be heard at once. We have to take turns during communication. Again these patterns are established early in development. As mothers breastfeed their infants, they instinctively know how to synchronize their movements and baby talk to fit with their child’s sucking patterns which come in bursts and pauses. 53

Synchrony of movements and timing continue to influence the nature of social interactions throughout our lives. Children must learn to take turns and control their impulses and urges. Routines are learned that emphasize the importance of coordination with others. Those who fail to develop control of their selves in the presence of others are said to be out of control. All the institutions that make up our societies – schools, churches and armies – thrive on synchrony to solidify ties between their members. Dancing and singing are synchronized activities that depend on timing to be pleasurable. In today’s modern army where the combat troop member is more of a technician than a field grunt, soldiers are still taught to march in unison as a means of establishing group harmony. This is why we say that individuals failing to conform to the group are ‘getting out of step’ or ‘falling out of line’.

Regimentation is not just a way of gaining control over large numbers of individuals. Rather it actually promotes prosocial behaviour. In one study, participants were walked around a college campus either in step or out of step with their colleagues. 54Both groups then played a trade-off game where the goal was to optimize winnings by members choosing the same but riskier option than a safer option that paid out less. In short, if members thought there was less group cohesion they tended to go for the safer bet. What researchers found was that those who walked in unison before the test did much better by selecting the responses that indicated a sense of group cohesion even though they were completely unaware of the purpose of going for a walk. Even Americans who sang along with the Canadian national anthem ‘O Canada’, rather than simply listening to it or reading the lyrics, were more likely to succeed in trade-off games that tested how much we trust others.