Tuesday, January 17, 2012

What is the difference between 'identification' and 'imitation' within psychology?

I would say that imitation means you just imitate somebody, for example, do what everybody in a group does so you won't stand out and nobody will think you're strange. But you don't really share this attitude, you think and would like to behave in a different way, but you play the role they want you to play. While identification means that you really identify yourself with somebody because you think and feel like he does and you agree with him, imitating does not need agreement.

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