The Biased Mirror: A Functional Approach to Intergroup Motor Resonance

Similar neural circuits are activated during action and during the observation of action, and such motor resonance is said to support action understanding and could potentially facilitate affect sharing, communication, cooperation and interpersonal coordination. Here I describe a line of research that uses suppression of electroencephalographic mu-oscillations as an indicator of motor resonance to look at motor resonance in an intergroup context. In study 1 I find that group categorization and intergroup biases can restrict motor resonance to the ethnic ingroup, potentially making it unavailable during cross-group interactions. In study 2 I investigate a reduction in affect sharing as a potential consequence of group biases in motor resonance. Using EEG prefrontal asymmetry patterns as an indicator of negative affect and avoidance tendencies, I show that participants do not share the sadness of outgroup members. Finally, I present two studies that test the boundary conditions of the ingroup bias in motor resonance. Study 3 shows that when motivational relevance of the outgroup is increased, because participants are in an inclusive, perspective taking mindset, group biases in motor resonance disappear. Similarly, study 4 shows that when the situation is highly motivationally relevant, such as when the behavior poses a potential threat; people will show motor resonance in response to anyone independent of group membership.Ph