(Image source: Discover Magazine)

BY STEVEN SPARKMAN

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Are you a copycat? New research from University College London shows it’s hard for humans to avoid imitating each other -- even when competing in a game of rock-paper-scissors.

“British scientists have found players of the game subconsciously imitate their opponents’ hand shapes, resulting in a disproportionate number of games ending in a draw.” (Source: Sydney Morning Herald)

The scientists were testing what’s called “automatic imitation,” the tendency humans have to mimic each other’s gestures. The Daily Mail explains it’s a subconscious reaction we have -- most likely to help us get along.

“Some evolutionary psychologists believe that automatic imitation may act as ‘social glue’ -- helping people to empathise and connect with each other. Past studies have shown that people have a subconscious desire to copy the movements, gestures and speech pattern of people they are talking to...”

What researchers wanted to study this time is whether or not imitation can be suppressed. So -- a writer for Discover Magazine explains -- what better test than a rock-paper-scissors tournament?

“Here is a game where you have to avoid imitating your opponent in order to win -- the rules implicitly encourage people to avoid copying what their adversaries do.”

The researchers compared games where both opponents were blindfolded -- where they threw the same gestures exactly one third of the time -- to games where only one person was blindfolded. In those games, mimicking went up significantly -- even when a cash incentive to win was introduced.

The lead author tells the Telegraph the mimicking wasn’t conscious.

“The present finding confirms that imitation is often ‘automatic’ in the sense of being hard to stop … the impulse to imitate ... is often subconscious, for example when one person starts tapping their foot in a waiting room it is not uncommon for the whole room to start tapping their feet without thinking.”

The researchers say that even though we’re natural copycats, with practice -- we can learn not to mimic.

Transcript by Newsy.