The effect of maternal responsiveness on infants' emergence of social bidding‐like behavior during the Still Face Task was examined longitudinally at the infant ages of one week, one month, two months, and three months. Infants' social behaviors of smiling or making non‐distress vocalizations while looking at the mother during the still face phase significantly increased when infants were two months of age. These social bidding‐like behaviors at two and three months correlated with maternal responsiveness in the initial interactive phase of the Still Face Task on the concurrent and previous visits and with infants' positive social behaviors in the initial interactive phase at two and three months. Regression analyses indicate that maternal vocal responsiveness on the concurrent visit was the sole predictor of infants' social bidding‐like behavior at two months and was the major predictor of such infant behavior at three months. Maternal responsiveness enhances infants' awareness that they are effective agents in instigating social interaction, as suggested by infants' social behaviors toward their mothers when the mothers are unresponsive. This awareness is present by the infant age of two months. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.