‘One cannot repay the unrepayable by grins and handshakes.’ –Rudyard Kipling
The benefits of body-language mimicry have been confirmed by numerous psychological studies. And in popular culture, mirroring is frequently urged on people as a strategy – for flirting or having a successful date, for closing a sale or acing a job interview. But new research suggests that mirroring may not always lead to positive social outcomes. In fact, sometimes the smarter thing to do is to refrain. (…)
Interviewees who mimicked the unfriendly interlocutor were judged to be less competent than those who didn’t.
