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158Chapter 9tracted to, we might blush, smile, and unconsciously look away, and ourpupils might dilate (Eibl-Eiblsfeldt, 1989; Keltner & Buswell, 1997). It iswidely recognized that attraction is primarily communicated through subtlenonverbal cues (Givens, 1978), which has led to coining the term “courtshipdance” to express how humans signal attraction (Birdwhistell, 1970). Thesesubtle expressions are crucial, as they allow for ambiguity and flexibility,protecting both parties involved in the exchange of romantic or sexual cuesif such interest is not reciprocated (Gersick & Kurzban, 2014). Researchershave identified numerous cues indicating attraction that are produced unconsciously, such as coy smiles—looking away briefly while smiling —, eyebrowraises, and lip licking or biting—expressions commonly labelled “flirting behaviors” (Argyle, 1988; Eibl-Eiblsfeldt, 1989; Givens, 1978; Grammer, 1990;Guerrero & Wiedmaier, 2013; Hall et al., 2015; McCormick & Jones, 1989;M. M. Moore, 1985, 2010). Although it is well-known that mimicry facilitates the formation of romantic bonds (Roth, Samara, Tan, et al., 2021),whether the mimicry of such subtle nonverbal expressions plays a role in theinitiation of pair bonding remains to be examined.A recent speed-dating study (Prochazkova et al., 2022) suggested thatphysiological synchrony, rather than the mimicry of nonverbal facial expressions, is important in predicting attraction. The authors argued that thismight be because facial expressions, unlike physiological activity, can be regulated by top-down control. Thus, they can be easily controlled or faked (deGelder et al., 2010). However, although this study investigated emotionalfacial expressions such as smiles and laughter, it did not look into subtlenonverbal expressions, which may be less regulated by top-down controland which are typically associated with attraction. Prior theoretical literature on attraction has shown that subtle nonverbal expressions or so-called“flirting behaviors,” such as coy smiles, eyebrow raises, and lip licking or biting, are related to attraction (Argyle, 1988; Eibl-Eiblsfeldt, 1989; Givens,1978; Grammer, 1990; Guerrero & Wiedmaier, 2013; M. M. Moore, 2010).Crucially, it has been suggested that only coy smiles (and not any kind ofsmile, such as genuine or polite smiles) have been associated with attraction(Guerrero & Wiedmaier, 2013). This might explain why the previous studyon the mimicry of nonverbal facial expressions in attraction (Prochazkovaet al., 2022) failed to find that the mimicry of nonverbal facial expressionsis informative for predicting attraction. It might be more likely that themimicry of subtle nonverbal expressions typically found in attraction, ratherthan more general nonverbal behaviours that this study investigated (i.e.,smiles—including and combining all types of smiles, laughter, and eye-gaze)matter for attraction.Here, we examined whether mimicking subtle nonverbal expressions orso-called “flirting behaviours” predicts mutual attraction in a speed-datingparadigm. These experimental paradigms offer an opportunity to examinethe initial stages of social interaction (Finkel & Eastwick, 2008) efficientlyIliana Samara 17x24.indd 158 08-04-2024 16:36