The impact of model eyesight and social reward on automatic imitation in virtual reality

Abstract

Motivational theories of imitation state that we imitate because this typically led to positive social consequences in the past, such as mutual liking. Because imitation can only lead to these consequences when it is visible to the imitated person, it should increase in frequency when the interaction partner sees the imitator. Current evidence for this hypothesis is mixed, potentially due to the low ecological validity and lack of social comparison in previous studies. To resolve these limitations, we used an immersive virtual-reality task. Participants were placed in a virtual city with a seeing and a blindfolded virtual agent and reacted to auditory cues with a head movement to the left or right, while one or both agents also made a left or right head movement. Imitation of the agents was measured via forced-choice (N = 94) and free-choice trials (N = 91). Data for this study were collected in 2023. The results revealed that participants had the tendency to imitate the agents. This imitative tendency was influenced by the agents’ eyesight, but only under specific conditions. These findings suggest that the effect of model eyesight on automatic imitation is small and limited to certain aspects of imitative behavior.