Abstract
This study tests the ability to mirror emotions by having second-year social work students and first-and second-year dance therapy students duplicate a videotape of a person expressing sadness, anger, and happiness. The ability to mirror is then compared to imaginative, expressive, and observational skills. Movement mirroring was found to correlate positively with, and was predictive of, observational skills. Mirroring was found not to be related to expressivity and the relationship between mirroring and imagination was unclear. Dance therapy students performed significantly better than social work students on the Movement-Mirroring Test, however, training did not improve their scores.
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Schmais, C., Schmais, A. Reflecting emotions: The movement-mirroring test. J Nonverbal Behav 8, 42–54 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00986329
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00986329