Academic Journal
Blinking mimicry predicts preference.
| Title: | Blinking mimicry predicts preference. |
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| Authors: | Amihai L; School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Israel. Electronic address: Liramic@gmail.com., Shahab S; Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Israel., Kligman T; School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Israel., Yeshurun Y; School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Israel; Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Israel. |
| Source: | Acta psychologica [Acta Psychol (Amst)] 2026 Jul; Vol. 267, pp. 107001. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 May 06. |
| Publication Type: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Journal Info: | Publisher: North Holland Publishing Country of Publication: Netherlands NLM ID: 0370366 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1873-6297 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00016918 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Acta Psychol (Amst) Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Publication: Amsterdam : North Holland Publishing Original Publication: The Hague. |
| MeSH Terms: | Blinking*/physiology , Imitative Behavior*/physiology , Choice Behavior*/physiology , Facial Recognition*/physiology , Facial Expression* , Social Interaction* , Social Perception* , Interpersonal Relations*, Humans ; Female ; Adult ; Young Adult ; Electromyography ; Adolescent ; Male |
| Abstract: | Face-to-face conversations involve a rich array of social signals - facial expressions, gestures, vocal prosody, and gaze. While interpersonal mimicry of these signals has been extensively studied and shown to carry evaluative significance, one highly visible and frequent behavior remains relatively underexplored in the mimicry literature: eye blinks. Spontaneous eye blinks are shaped by cognitive and attentional states, with increased blinking associated with disengagement. Whether blink mimicry-the directional following of one person's blinks by another-carries evaluative significance remains unknown. In this study, we tested whether blink mimicry predicts preference using a naturalistic dyadic storytelling paradigm. One hundred and twenty participants, consisting of sixty female dyads, took turns as readers and listeners; readers read two movie synopses aloud while listeners observed their faces, then both indicated which synopsis they preferred. Blink events were extracted from continuous facial electromyography recordings, and mimicry was quantified by examining directional listener-following-reader coupling. Results showed that observed mimicry significantly exceeded chance levels established through permutation testing, demonstrating that blink mimicry occurs during naturalistic social interaction. Importantly, blink mimicry negatively predicted choice: synopses during which listeners more closely mimicked readers' blinks were less likely to be preferred. Listener blink rate alone did not predict preference. These findings position blink mimicry as part of the broader repertoire of joint action signals that emerge during face-to-face interaction. Blink mimicry may reflect an observer's attentional disengagement from content, offering a novel and easily measurable physiological marker of preference formation during naturalistic social exchange. (Copyright © 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.) |
| Competing Interests: | Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no competing interests. |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Blink mimicry; Eye blinks; Facial EMG; Interpersonal coordination; Joint action; Preference formation; Social interaction |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260507 Date Completed: 20260616 Latest Revision: 20260616 |
| Update Code: | 20260616 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.actpsy.2026.107001 |
| PMID: | 42096951 |
| Database: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1873-6297 |
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| DOI: | 10.1016/j.actpsy.2026.107001 |