One chilly Monday morning, I decided to grab my new sweatshirt. But the second I walked into class, there it was, the exact same sweatshirt staring back from across the room. My stomach started to sink.

We’ve all had these moments–feelings of anger and annoyance bubbling to the top when you notice another person constantly being a “copycat.”. But, is this anger justified? Is there a reason for being a copycat?

During social situations, humans tend to unconsciously imitate the people around them, deemed the chameleon effect, according to Discovery, a mass media company. The chameleon effect is when someone automatically copies the behaviors of others, including mannerisms, facial expressions, and posture, without even realizing it, according to the National Lib` rary of Medicine (NLM).

Even if you do not want to admit it, we are all part of this cycle—we copy others, and others copy us. This happens because of the perception behavior link, a natural human tendency to imitate others, according to NLM. So, maybe that friend is not trying to copy your every move. Maybe, their brain is just processing and adapting to their environment.

Although copying has a negative connotation, it comes with positives. Mimicking can improve social situations, help develop trust, enhance perception, and cause attraction towards the mimicker, according to Psychology Today, the world’s largest mental health and behavioral sciences website.

Even though you might not notice it at first, when you start to feel more comfortable with someone and shift your behavior, even a change to your posture or tone of voice, it makes you feel more comfortable with the other person. When we think about our lives and relationships, some of our closest connections are built on these small, almost invisible moments.

When you notice that you start to become increasingly similar to your friends, whether that is with sharing music taste, using the same word choice, or even adopting the same mannerisms, you are mimicking each other. In situations like this, mimicking is rarely intentional, and can help build connections and relationships.

Of course, mimicry is not all positive. People value individuality, especially during teenage years when identity is still developing. So, when someone copies your clothes, your style, or even personality, it can feel like your uniqueness is being taken away. About 60 percent of teens say they feel annoyed when someone copies their style, according to the American Psychological Association.

This discomfort from noticeably mimicking another person can even cause dislike towards the mimicker, according to a clinical trial by NLM. When mimicking starts to feel excessive or intentional, individuality quickly starts to feel threatened and aversion to the mimicker appears.

We compare this feeling of being stripped away from what makes you unique to identity theft. When peers take inspiration or completely copy us, the idea of ‘losing yourself’ goes both ways, with the person who is copying who loses original aspects or the person getting copied losing their originality. In today’s social media heavy world, copying is always present and inevitable. When scrolling on social media, we come across endless videos of people showing the same exact clothes, makeup, hair, and even personalities. After seeing these trends over and over again, it becomes easy to just unconsciously copy them. What starts as simple inspiration can slowly turn into imitation, taking on a whole other personality, slowly losing your identity and individuality.

Mimicry can be both positive and negative, as there is a fine line between flattering and annoying imitation. The chameleon effect is meant to reap the most benefits when it occurs subtly, like unconsciously mimicking a friend’s speech patterns or gestures, which helps create connections. But in our experiences, the chameleon effect being overdone is why you feel that sudden sense of anger when you see someone wearing the same sweatshirt as you.

In the end, the sweatshirt was never really the problem. What mattered more was the feeling of losing something that felt unique and personal to you. With mimicry being a natural human action in a world driven by trends and social media, copying can come from admiration rather than competition.

The problem is knowing when the admiration ends and excessive imitation starts. While small acts of mimicry can cause connections, constant mimicry can feel like impersonation. Mimicry may be human nature, but individuality still matters.