Griskevicius et al, 2012 - Pre-dispositions - Social imitation

5 important questions on Griskevicius et al, 2012 - Pre-dispositions - Social imitation

What does the pre-disposition of Social imitation mean?

Humans have evolved to (unconsciously) copy and mimic the behaviour of others.

Why do people, from an evolutionary bases, partake in social imitation?

  • Substantial costs of learning in early environments (poisonous berries).
  • Following others including leaders, increases survival chances.

Who are people more likely to copy?

People that have high status, such as leaders etc.
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How to use this Social imitation to link it to strategies that will make people behave more sustainable?

  1. Depict high prevalence (frequency) of desired behavior - emphasise what others do; emphasise how many people do it (don't say: a lot of people do not recycle because then people tend to imitate that, e.g. 100.000 people carpool also not percentages).
  2. Use social approval - publicise green behaviour of similar- or high-status others.

What are the principles of Social Imitation?

  1. Mimicry
  2. Cultural evolution
  3. Social norms

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