Imitation is a process in which one individual tries to exactly follow another person, group, or model in everything, while he independently copies the actions that he perceives from others. Psychological imitation is of considerable importance in a person’s assimilation of social experience, which is observed for many in different phases of individual development. In preschool and early ages, norms of behavior, self-service skills, and objective actions are adopted through imitation. At an older age, it takes on a different meaning.
This phenomenon is a completely natural sociological phenomenon. For example, when a person is pressured by social norms, most members of the social group will behave in a certain way, doing specific actions, and it will be difficult for the individual to resist this. In this case, imitation is a type of groupthink. People want to feel and understand that they are right. These people behave this way to fit in with others. They look at how others behave and take an example, copy their patterns of behavior, considering this to be correct, since this is how the majority behave.
In the phenomenon of imitation, the fear of isolation is important. Everyone wants to be understandable and pleasant, to be accepted in society, because many do not want to be black sheep, rejected from the group. It is the need for recognition that encourages them to accept the values and norms of the majority.
The imitation effect is a completely unstable manifestation, because people can easily adopt preferences and abandon them just as quickly. This phenomenon in the psychological and sociological aspect is a conscious adherence to the behavior of others, a recreation of perceived behavior.
The mechanism of imitation in psychology can be conscious and unconscious, absolute or partial, creative and literal, voluntary and forced.
Imitation as a mechanism of mass psychology has such a feature that it manifests itself with a decrease in individual consciousness. The need is in the masses, not only helps to reduce the level of rationality, it increases emotionality. This emotional state contributes to a person’s desire to share it with others.
If favorable situations arise for this, the ability to imitate is updated. Favorable factors may be the presence of a certain number of people who feel similar states and are ready to share it. It turns out that it becomes the main mechanism of behavior, since from a potential ability it becomes a specific ability. A person begins to reflect the perceived patterns of behavior of persons in a similar emotional state, observing the proposed patterns of regulation of the emotional state. A mass of people are being created that imitate each other. With this interaction, the experienced states intensify, reaching a peak, then gradually decreasing.
The ability to imitate the unlimited, it is exhausted, discharging the emotional state, while the need to regulate this state is saturated, then control over behavior begins to be restored.
Imitation in psychology
Despite the similarities observed in external signs, the imitation mechanism in psychology has different psychological signs in different age categories. In childhood, the phenomenon is characterized by the fact that the child perceives the voice and movements of an adult, making an attempt to determine the first contact with him.
At the age of a preschooler, psychological imitation is already a penetration into the semantic structure of an individual’s activity. It develops, goes through certain stages, and the leading age activity—story play—also changes. The child first begins to imitate the open features of the activities of adults, gradually beginning to copy the features of behavior that reflect the meaning of the situation.
In adolescence, imitation is focused more on external identification with a significant person or with a stereotype of personal behavioral characteristics. In adults, it is an element of learning in several types of activities (professional, sports, personal, and others).
Mental infection and imitation were understood by the psychologist Freud as a consequence of the process of suggestion.
There is a difference between the concepts of mental infection and imitation. Mental infection represents a number of names of phenomena of the socio-psychic order of human behavior, where the prerequisites are the mechanisms of imitation and suggestion (suggestion).
In mental infection, the dominant factor is the dominance of the emotional component, its expression and implementation. Psychological imitation involves a connection with fashion, with collective phobias of various types. Infection has long been studied as a means of actively influencing the masses, in connection with such phenomena as mass psychoses, cult sects and the like. The phenomenon of infection was known even at the earliest stages of history; it manifested itself in quite a variety of ways: sports excitement, collective states manifested during ceremonial dances, panic situations, meditation.
Infection is defined as the involuntary, unconscious susceptibility of a person to various mental states. It manifests itself not as the conscious acceptance of any information or patterns of behavior, but as the transfer of a certain state, psychological attitude. This mass emotional state acts as a mechanism for mutually increasing the emotional impacts of people who communicate with each other. Here the individual does not at all succumb to deliberate organized pressure; he only unconsciously assimilates the pattern of someone else’s behavior, obeying only him.
Researchers bring to light the fact of the existence of an “infection reaction,” which occurs quite often in open and spacious classrooms, where the emotional state increases significantly, through repeated display of a chain reaction. The phenomenon of infection is often observed in a poorly organized group, a crowd, which is an “accelerator” that accelerates the emotional state. The precise psychological interpretation states that infection is an involuntary, unconscious exposure of the individual to various mental states. At the same time, it is not the informed acceptance and transmission of information material or a pattern of behavior that occurs, but the transmission of an affective emotional state (mood).
For emotional contagion to occur, it is necessary to establish a commonality of assessments. Thus, infection occurs when someone in the crowd begins to applaud, and everyone begins to support him, that is, a mass infection occurs. Contagion is an important element in socio-psychological phenomena. The great significance of the phenomenon of infection lies in the formation of “mental epidemics” that occur among the population. This includes a passion for fashion, trends in medicine, literature, art, and the excesses of fanatics. The content of these emotions determines the content of psychological contagion. This is of considerable importance in social collective life. The correct use of psychological contagion is important in the profession of teacher, educator and leader.
Imitation is the process of a person reproducing the traits and stereotypes of demonstrated behavior. It can also be attributed to the mechanism of mutual influence, with the inclusion of conditions of mass behavior, and its manifestation in groups is also taken into account.
Imitation as a mechanism of mass psychology is accompanied by the following laws: internal patterns are capable of causing imitation earlier than external patterns; lower examples imitate higher ones.
The mechanisms of imitation are not one-sided, because there is always a reverse movement - from the individual to the influence, and the intensity of the influence depends on the criticality of the individuals who are part of the spontaneous group.
There are three types of imitation:
- upon observation, new reactions appear;
— observing a model being punished or rewarded weakens or strengthens inhibited behavior;
— observation of the model contributes to the activation of behavioral stereotypes that the observer was previously aware of.
Imitation differs from suggestion in that here the achievement of the goal is ensured by the obvious expressiveness of the source of the flow of information, and there is also an increased attractiveness of the information flowing from the source. It can be considered that the image effect forms the basis for the perception of information.
In a situation of suggestion, goal achievement is established through direct emotional influence, where the determining component is the word.
Imitation is understood as one of the patterns of the “law of repetition” that occurs in nature. Animals in their world do this through heredity, people, in the human world - through copying. Imitation is a step towards progress. Inventions periodically appear in society, which the masses begin to imitate. Such discoveries subsequently fit into the structure of society and are mastered again through the process of copying.
Imitation is considered by some researchers as the “dominion of example,” which means that various innovations in social life are assimilated, after which they begin to be repeated by many, helping to enrich their various activities, lives, and subjugating nature. In interaction, some begin to imitate others, thereby defining the initial component of sociality. Therefore, this phenomenon constitutes a driving, activating force in social progress; it is an irresistible desire of people for mutual social imitation.
When adults imitate
Many people believe that deliberate imitation is the prerogative of children or adolescents. No matter how it is! The biggest imitators are “adults,” that is, those who are twenty or younger. The fact is that an undecided child is normal. But a person who has gone through puberty should definitely understand who he is! Not so simple. In the process of development, each of us in any case needs an example. If it was unsuccessful, we will eventually realize this, since life will not turn out according to our ideas, and the easiest way to change it will be to change yourself. Again the question of finding an example arises, and then imitation of others becomes the answer. We unconsciously choose someone we know who seems successful, attractive, and wholesome to us, and just as unconsciously we begin to copy his style and lifestyle, from minor habits and gait to appearance.
Tarde's theory of imitation
In social psychology, the theory of imitation is presented as a phenomenon, where it is analyzed in such forms as imitating the behavior of a particular individual or copying norms that are observed in a group. Also distinguished are such forms as congruence (implementation of coordinated actions of the group), copying (displaying the exact actions of others in behavior), referentiality (copying or congruence to people who are not present in contact). The mechanism of imitation in psychology was studied by sociologist J. Tarde.
Tarde's theory of imitation is briefly built on three basic types of social processes: opposition, repetition, also known as imitation and adaptation. Accordingly, his basic social laws were the laws of imitation, adaptation, and opposition. But he singled out the law of repetition as the most important among them and gave it the most of his attention. He also said that imitation is a kind of hypnotic phenomenon. His theory is extended to the area of group and interpersonal interactions. A characteristic type in social terms is imitation, where the lower strata imitate the higher ones.
Tarde understood the process of imitation as the main explanatory principle of life, both personal and collective. He considered it a worldwide, permanent social phenomenon that contributes to the growth of the state, its economic development, religion, language, and other phenomena.
Social cognition is the knowledge of the process of imitation. Its occurrence is facilitated by internal and external causes, otherwise called logical, extra-logical. In external causes, he especially paid attention to social causes, in which he included economic, religious, political, linguistic and aesthetic influences.
Tarde's theory rests on the fact that the fundamental acts of personal and social life appear as a consequence of imitation. This means that social interactions are based on such a relationship as “teacher-student”.
Tarde's theory of imitation influenced his followers, who insisted that there are three main types in society: mutual imitation, traditions (customs) and ideal. His theory analyzes this phenomenon in connection with the mutual actions of people.
Tarde's theory goes beyond the person and moves towards the consideration of interpersonal interaction. Tarde considers society to be a product of the interaction of personal consciousnesses through the transfer of information by people, their acquisition of beliefs, beliefs, intentions, and desires.
How to explain what is good and what is bad
Children are sensitive to advice from those they respect. If you yourself smoke and use foul language, but forbid your child to do the same, then do not expect unquestioning obedience. Moreover, be sure that they will not listen to you. If you consider yourself a good example for your child, then you can have confidential conversations from time to time. But under no circumstances do you read lectures and don’t be what your child considers a boring grumbler. Your moralizing should be elegantly disguised. For example, these could be stories from personal experience or the experiences of your friends.
Something like this: “There was a girl in our class very similar to your Tanya. She was just as bright and was friends with older guys. And so, in the tenth grade, I got pregnant from God knows who, gave birth to a child, but did not receive an education. I saw her recently, she works as a saleswoman at our market, she looks terrible.” Do not draw further conclusions, like “you see, you will continue to look up to her, it remains to be seen what will happen to you,” otherwise the child will immediately see through you. On the contrary, leave the story unfinished, let your child summarize your “report” and decide for himself what is good and what is not so good.
The hardest and easiest thing is to be yourself
Why is it difficult to be yourself? The fact is that then you will have to take full responsibility for all your actions. When you imitate others, whether intentionally or not, you shift some of the responsibility to those authorities. If something goes wrong in life, you can always say to yourself as a consolation: “It’s all because I took my example from the wrong person.” Meanwhile, you can only be considered a formed personality if you are ready to be responsible for all your actions. It turns out that in adulthood, imitation is a way to avoid responsibility, and nothing more.
