Mimicry boosts social bias: unrealistic optimism in a health prevention case
Unrealistic optimism bias appears when a person perceives oneself – in comparison to peers – as less at risk from threats. This bias has been widely reported and the consequences are clear: it puts one’s health in danger. The existing body of literature proposes egocentrism as a mechanism leading to...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis Group
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Social Influence |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15534510.2023.2187880 |
| _version_ | 1797678975097503744 |
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| author | Wojciech Kulesza Dariusz Dolinski Paweł Muniak Aidana Rizulla |
| author_facet | Wojciech Kulesza Dariusz Dolinski Paweł Muniak Aidana Rizulla |
| author_sort | Wojciech Kulesza |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Unrealistic optimism bias appears when a person perceives oneself – in comparison to peers – as less at risk from threats. This bias has been widely reported and the consequences are clear: it puts one’s health in danger. The existing body of literature proposes egocentrism as a mechanism leading to a reduction in this bias. The present paper tests a novel mechanism orienting a person toward others – thus linked with egocentrism – i.e., mimicry. Results showed directly opposing effects: mimicry induced a stronger tendency to perceive oneself as less threatened. This result is not only surprising but especially alarming since mimicry may be used in patient-doctor dialogue which may backfire, leading to resistance to medical recommendations provided by the doctor. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T23:07:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a229620194f341be84ad6087f5b2f15d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1553-4510 1553-4529 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T23:07:38Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Social Influence |
| spelling | doaj.art-a229620194f341be84ad6087f5b2f15d2023-09-21T12:43:12ZengTaylor & Francis GroupSocial Influence1553-45101553-45292023-12-0118110.1080/15534510.2023.21878802187880Mimicry boosts social bias: unrealistic optimism in a health prevention caseWojciech Kulesza0Dariusz Dolinski1Paweł Muniak2Aidana Rizulla3SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Faculty of Psychology in WarsawSWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Faculty of Psychology in WroclawSWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Faculty of Psychology in WarsawAl-Farabi Kazakh National UniversityUnrealistic optimism bias appears when a person perceives oneself – in comparison to peers – as less at risk from threats. This bias has been widely reported and the consequences are clear: it puts one’s health in danger. The existing body of literature proposes egocentrism as a mechanism leading to a reduction in this bias. The present paper tests a novel mechanism orienting a person toward others – thus linked with egocentrism – i.e., mimicry. Results showed directly opposing effects: mimicry induced a stronger tendency to perceive oneself as less threatened. This result is not only surprising but especially alarming since mimicry may be used in patient-doctor dialogue which may backfire, leading to resistance to medical recommendations provided by the doctor.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15534510.2023.2187880mimicryunrealistic optimismcovid-19coronavirus |
| spellingShingle | Wojciech Kulesza Dariusz Dolinski Paweł Muniak Aidana Rizulla Mimicry boosts social bias: unrealistic optimism in a health prevention case Social Influence mimicry unrealistic optimism covid-19 coronavirus |
| title | Mimicry boosts social bias: unrealistic optimism in a health prevention case |
| title_full | Mimicry boosts social bias: unrealistic optimism in a health prevention case |
| title_fullStr | Mimicry boosts social bias: unrealistic optimism in a health prevention case |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mimicry boosts social bias: unrealistic optimism in a health prevention case |
| title_short | Mimicry boosts social bias: unrealistic optimism in a health prevention case |
| title_sort | mimicry boosts social bias unrealistic optimism in a health prevention case |
| topic | mimicry unrealistic optimism covid-19 coronavirus |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15534510.2023.2187880 |
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