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Similarity and Social Interaction: When Similarity Fosters Implicit Behavior Toward a Stranger
The Journal of Social Psychology
Abstract
People interact more readily with someone whom they think they have something in common with. At a pedestrian crossing, confederates asked participants for the time and, in one condition, said she/he had the same watch as the participant. The amount of time that participants lingered near a confederate was used as the dependent variable. Participants in the similarity condition spent significantly more time near the confederate than when no similarity was manipulated. The results showed that similarity fosters implicit behavior, adding to the growing body of data on the positive effects of similarity and its role in social interaction.
... Another study by Guéguen, Martin, and Meineri (2011) indicated that incidental similarity fosters implicit behavior. At a pedestrian crossing, confederates asked participants for the time and, in the similarity condition, said they had the same watch as the participant. ...
... Thus, replications of this study using children of various ages and male instructors are now necessary. In this situation, we examined only one method to create incidental similarity (a similar birthdate), but research has shown that other methods exist (Burger et al., 2044;Guéguen et al., 2011), and that uncommon, incidental similarity exerts more effect (Burger et al., 2044). Thus, in future studies, it would be worth examining the various cues that create incidental similarity. ...
Research has shown that people like more those who have something in common with them and are more likely to comply with a request addressed by similar individuals. We hypothesized that such similarity could also influence people’s preferences. First, 8-9-year- old children were led to believe that they shared the same birthday with an instructor. Afterwards, the children were asked about their food preferences and solicited to taste vegetables they disliked. Two weeks later, a survey was administered and revealed that the children in the incidental similarity condition expressed a higher liking for the vegetable disliked and more vegetable consumption. These changes in their vegetable consumption were confirmed by their mother. We suggest that similarity led participants to change their own attitudes and values to bring them closer to a similar target.
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... Recent studies have revealed distal links between neural similarity and social relationships as well; in particular, close relational ties show greater neural synchrony while interacting when compared to strangers (Kinreich et al., 2017;Pan et al., 2017;Reindl et al., 2018;Djalovski et al., 2021), and friends show more similar neural responses than indirect social network ties even when not interacting (Parkinson et al., 2018). This propensity toward similarity reflects a fundamental way in which humans organize into social groups, as people are more likely to begin a relationship with an assumed similar stranger (Burger et al., 2004;Guéguen et al., 2011;Martin et al., 2013). However, the involvement of individual traits in this process has not been well characterized. ...
... stereotypes, prejudice and conflict; Hewstone et al., 2002;Dunham, 2018). However, our results align with more prosocial consequences of perceived similarity, such as increasing desire to form friendships (Burger et al., 2004;Guéguen et al., 2011;Martin et al., 2013). If these perceptions are the important drivers of perceived interaction quality, then biological similarity may not be needed to establish common ground and engage in healthy and positive interactions. ...
Social interactions are a ubiquitous part of engaging in the world around us, and determining what makes an interaction successful is necessary for social well-being. This study examined the separate contributions of individual social cognitive ability and partner similarity toward social interaction success among strangers, measured by a cooperative communication task and self-reported interaction quality. Sixty participants engaged in a one-hour virtual social interaction with an unfamiliar partner (a lab confederate) including a 30-minute cooperative “mind-reading” game, and then completed several individual tasks and surveys. They then underwent a separate fMRI session in which they passively viewed video clips that varied in content. The neural responses to these videos were correlated with those of their confederate interaction partners to yield a measure of pairwise neural similarity. We found that trait empathy (assessed by the interpersonal reactivity index) and neural similarity to partner both predicted communication success in the mind-reading game. In contrast, perceived similarity to partner and (to a much lesser extent) trait mind-reading motivation predicted self-reported interaction quality. These results highlight the importance of sharing perspectives in successful communication, as well as differences between neurobiological similarity and perceived similarity in supporting different types of interaction success.
... To understand the hidden mechanism of the observed correlation patterns, we identify the key factors driving the synchronization of knowledge structures. First, we assume that people are more likely to be similar when they interact more frequently and vice versa (Guéguen et al., 2011). Second, the channel of interaction is progressively moving from a physical route to an online media space, which enables people to interact with overseas countries in real-time (Wasko & Faraj, 2008). ...
... Similarity is a core construct that has an impact on social interactions. Similarity between individuals positively impacts interactions, cohesion, performance, likeness, and perceived competence (Guéguen, Martin, & Meineri, 2011;Harrison, Price, & Bell, 1998;Phillips, Northcraft, Neale, & relations, 2006;Singh et al., 2015). Similarity can be examined from two levels: surfacelevel similarity and deep-level similarity (Harrison et al., 1998;Kacmar, Harris, Carlson, & Zivnuska, 2009;Phillips et al., 2006). ...
With the rise and integration of AI technologies within organizations, our understanding of the impact of this technology on individuals remains limited. Although the IS use literature provides important guidance for organization to increase employees' willingness to work with new technology, the utilitarian view of prior IS use research limits its application considering the new evolving social interaction between humans and AI agents. We contribute to the IS use literature by implementing a social view to understand the impact of AI agents on an individual's perception and behavior. By focusing on the main design dimensions of AI agents, we propose a framework that utilizes social psychology theories to explain the impact of those design dimensions on individuals. Specifically, we build on Similarity Attraction Theory to propose an AI similarity-continuance model that aims to explain how similarity with AI agents influence individuals' IT identity and intention to continue working with it. Through an online brainstorming experiment, we found that similarity with AI agents indeed has a positive impact on IT identity and on the intention to continue working with the AI agent.
The sharing economy has emerged as a transformative model in the digital age. However, existing reviews often focus on isolated aspects and provide limited insights into its complexity. This paper comprehensively reviews 92 studies through a dual‐framework approach, employing both the Antecedents–Decisions–Outcomes (ADO) and the Theories–Contexts–Methods (TCM) frameworks. The ADO framework reveals key factors influencing user decisions—including adoption, usage, booking, continued use, engagement, participation, purchase, and switching—that are shaped by economic, social, technological, trust‐related, environmental, and political antecedents. Meanwhile, the TCM framework structures an in‐depth examination of dominant theories (e.g., Technology Acceptance Model, Social Exchange Theory), diverse contexts (e.g., studies in China, the US), and methods (e.g., quantitative and qualitative) prevalent in the literature. Key findings emphasize the importance of regulatory dynamics and market shifts on user engagement and platform sustainability. Practical implications offer actionable guidance for platform managers to enhance user retention and to align strategies with evolving regulatory and market environments. The review also identifies future research directions to expand our understanding of global trends and challenges within the sharing economy.
In recent years, social media applications have grown in number and in user bases. Recommendation algorithms on these platforms refer social others and related content to users. Using Granovetter's tie strength theory and the literature on relationship formation as conceptual foundations, we argue that these social media algorithms can damage a user's ability to establish diverse relationships and the benefits therein, thereby reducing personal, and, when aggregated, societal advantages. We argue that this occurs because the algorithms take on social actor roles and operate as “weak tie imposters” that serve as bridges to like others and content. This work provides a new conceptualization of the role recommendation algorithms play in social relationships, argues how they impact social relationship development and user privacy, and offers potential solutions to the issues related to algorithmic interference.
Résumé : Cette note de synthèse présente une sélection des travaux de recherches que j’ai menés durant ma thèse de doctorat et depuis la soutenance de celle-ci fin 2009. Ces travaux s’inscrivent principalement dans le champ de l’influence sociale, et plus particulièrement dans le champ de la Soumission Librement Consentie dans une perspective à la fois fondamentale et appliquée. La première partie de la synthèse prend la forme d’une revue de la littérature relative aux paradigmes et propositions théoriques qui composent le champ de la soumission librement consentie, augmentée des modestes contributions que j’ai pu y apporter en tentant d’éclairer théoriquement le fonctionnement d’un paradigme, notamment en incluant des variables connexes, ou en élaborant des opérationnalisations alternatives. Les théories de l’Identification de l’action occupent une place centrale dans cette revue, et la mise en évidence de ses apports conduisent à la présentation d’un nouveau paradigme, dit du Pied-dans-le-pourquoi. La seconde partie présente certaine des recherches à visée d’application et en Ingénierie psychosociale que j’ai eu l’opportunité de mener sur les thématiques environnementales de la gestion des déchets et l’écomobilité. Des perspectives de recherches fondamentales et appliquées sont proposées à la suite de chacune des parties, donnant un aperçu de mes questionnements théoriques actuels et travaux à venir.
Purpose
Spoken service language is critical for service experiences and human welfare in many service settings. However, little is known about how spoken service language can enhance customer well-being in transformative service contexts. This paper explores spoken service language and well-being for customers experiencing vulnerability in a transformative service context, informed by an empirical account of the human welfare service of residential aged care.
Design/methodology/approach
Situated within transformative service research (TSR), this study was guided by a theoretical framework of service language and adopts a strengths-based approach to customer experiences of vulnerability. A qualitative multiple case study methodology was applied to explore carers’ perspectives on spoken service language and well-being from three residential aged care homes in Australia.
Findings
The findings demonstrate five spoken service language practices and four principles of spoken service language for well-being that co-create customer well-being and support the alleviation of customer experiences of vulnerability. Conceptualised as transformative spoken service language, the spoken service language practices and principles collectively recognise, support and leverage residents’ capabilities and uplift customer well-being, by enacting a process of mattering highly salient to transformative service contexts.
Originality/value
This study is the first to conceptualise how employee spoken service language can be used to support customer well-being and enhance transformative value for customers experiencing vulnerability to align with the goals of TSR. Practically, the study advocates for a greater awareness and more considered use of transformative spoken service language in human welfare and other transformative service contexts.
A sense of humor is a desirable characteristic in both romantic and platonic relationships, and people communicate their sense of humor by telling jokes. However, there are sex differences in joking, so men tell jokes more often than women. Men’s benefits from joking correspond with such fundamental social motives, as mate seeking and mate retention, affiliation, and self-protection. However, less is known about the relation between tendency to tell jokes and more general styles of self-presentation, that is, tactical ways of behaving that can be used in many social interactions. In our study (N = 139 Polish men aged 18 to 60 [M = 29.94, SD = 11.66]), we wanted to examine the relationships between self-presentation styles (e.g., self-promotion and self-depreciation), humor styles (e.g., affiliative, self-enhancing, aggressive, and self-defeating), and tendency to tell jokes in adult men. We found that men focused on self-promotion produced humor more often and their humor styles contained more affiliative and self-enhancement aspects. Moreover, men's use of affiliative humor completely mediated the relationship between their self-promotion and their tendency to joke. We also found that men oriented on self-depreciation use more self-defeating humor, but their self-defeating motivation does not correlate with their tendency to joke. Our results suggest that men may tell jokes, especially those involving affiliative humor, to tactically achieve their self-promotion goals.
What was noted by E. J. Langer (1978) remains true today: that much of contemporary psychological research is based on the assumption that people are consciously and systematically processing incoming information in order to construe and interpret their world and to plan and engage in courses of action. As did Langer, the authors question this assumption. First, they review evidence that the ability to exercise such conscious, intentional control is actually quite limited, so that most of moment-to-moment psychological life must occur through nonconscious means if it is to occur at all. The authors then describe the different possible mechanisms that produce automatic, environmental control over these various phenomena and review evidence establishing both the existence of these mechanisms as well as their consequences for judgments, emotions, and behavior. Three major forms of automatic self-regulation are identified: an automatic effect of perception on action, automatic goal pursuit, and a continual automatic evaluation of one's experience. From the accumulating evidence, the authors conclude that these various nonconscious mental systems perform the lion's share of the self-regulatory burden, beneficently keeping the individual grounded in his or her current environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Four studies examined the effect of an incidental similarity on compliance to a request. Undergraduates who believed they shared a birthday (Study 1), a first name (Study 2), or fingerprint similarities (Study 3) with a requester were more likely to comply with a request than participants who did not perceive an incidental similarity with the requester. The findings are consistent with past research demonstrating that people often rely on heuristic processing when responding to requests and with Heider's description of unit relationships in which perceived similarities lead to positive affect. Consistent with the unit relation interpretation, participants did not increase compliance when hearing about an incidental similarity with someone other than the requester or when they believed the feature they shared with the requester was common.
What was noted by E. J. Langer (1978) remains true today; that much of contemporary psychological research is based on the assumption that people are consciously and systematically processing incoming information in order to construe and interpret their world and to plan and engage in courses of action. As did E. J. Langer, the authors question this assumption. First, they review evidence that the ability to exercise such conscious, intentional control is actually quite limited, so that most of moment-to-moment psychological life must occur through nonconscious means if it is to occur at all. The authors then describe the different possible mechanisms that produce automatic, environmental control over these various phenomena and review evidence establishing both the existence of these mechanisms as well as their consequences for judgments, emotions, and behavior. Three major forms of automatic self-regulation are identified: an automatic effect of perception on action, automatic goal pursuit, and a continual automatic evaluation of one's experience. From the accumulating evidence, the authors conclude that these various nonconscious mental systems perform the lion's share of the self-regulatory burden, beneficently keeping the individual grounded in his or her current environment.
Similarity between a solicitor and a subject traditionally enhances helping behavior. An experiment was carried out in a computer-mediated context. Fifty students received an e-mail containing a 40 questions survey on their food habits which required 15-20 minutes of their time to respond. This questionnaire came from a hypothetical student of the university in which the subjects were registered. In half of the cases, the surname of the solicitor, which appeared in his/her electronic address, was the same than the surname of the target. Results show that compliance to the request was significantly higher in the same surnames condition than in the different surnames condition. The response delay was significantly shorter in the same-surnames condition than in control condition.
We investigated whether names in common promote altruistic behaviour, predicting that this would be especially so for relatively uncommon names, for surnames (which are better kinship cues than first names), and among women (who, although less willing than men to help strangers, according to prior research, are also the primary "kin keepers"). We solicited help from 2960 email addressees, with the request ostensibly coming from a same-sex person sharing both, either, or neither of the addressee's first and last names. As anticipated, addressees were most likely to respond helpfully when senders shared both their names (12.3%) and least likely when they shared neither (2.0%), and this was especially true for relatively uncommon names. A shared surname was more effective than a shared first name only if it was relatively uncommon. Women were substantially more likely to reply than men. These results indicate that names elicit altruism because they function as salient cues of kinship.