Why are yawns contagious?

[Occulus]

A quick Google shows a lot of studies, but... ah... my cat just yawned, and I couldn't resist doing the same almost immediately. In fact, simply writing about yawning (while writing this post) has "made" me yawn, and I'm really not at all tired.

So, apparently, 'mutual yawning' even crosses species boundaries.

And confess: did you yawn while reading this post?

[elleng]

1. Certainly; yawned when I read headline!

(But been yawning, so not really good test.)

[provis99]

2. one way to test:

lab scientists could arrange for something exciting to happen, and then have the control group start yawning. If the experimental group starts to yawn during the exciting event, then we can conclude it is contagious. Otherwise, it just might be coincidental environmental factors.

[Occulus]

5. I really don't think it's coincidence.

Many "normal" people yawn when they see someone else do it. It's really very common, actually. I suppose one could set up a test; the problem is that even fake yawns often turn into real ones (it's happened to me multiple times), which would completely blow the experiment.

Here's an excerpt from a Discovery News article I found while Googling:

Fetuses begin yawning in the womb as early as 11 weeks after conception, said Robert Provine, a developmental neuroscientist at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

For reasons scientists still can't explain, spontaneous yawning continues throughout life. (Studies have shot down theories about yawning to bring in more oxygen.) In fact, all vertebrates yawn, including snakes and lizards.

Contagious yawning is a different story. Only humans, chimpanzees and possibly dogs have been shown to do it.

Like contagious laughter and contagious crying, scientists have theorized that contagious yawning is a shared experience that promotes social bonding. Specifically, Helt said, it could diffuse stress after a period of being on high alert and spread a feeling of calm through a group.

The whole article is worth a read; it introduces some very interesting exceptions and questions.

[targetpractice]

8. Other spontaneous and innate action patterns...

The flirting response is cross-cultural... Lock eyes, raise eyebrows, look away, blush. Same sequence for everybody, everywhere.

Instinctively touching one's ear or nose when encountering someone through a doorway, street crossing, or on the sidewalk is an innate and cross-cultural submission response.

[Occulus]

9. I did NOT know about those.

Do you have sources for that? Not that I doubt you, but... those are really fascinating claims.

[targetpractice]

11. Recollections from psychobiology and animal behavior courses...

... I took in the 1980's.

I'll look for some sources for you.

I validated the nose-scratching and ear-touching pattern anecdotally after living many years in NYC. Many (not all) of my friends noticed that they reflexively touched their face, nose, or ear when crossing the street toward other people coming toward them.

I've been fascinated by stuff like this forever... Also for example how many people share the same dream patterns (e.g., teeth falling out, being back in high school or college without studying, attending school naked, etc.)

[unblock]

14. ok, they study contagious yawning, laughing, and crying. why does no one study contagious vomiting?

:shrug:

[jeff47]

15. Wouldn't work. Fake yawns have been shown to not be contagious, while real ones are. (nt)

[targetpractice]

3. Without googling...

I recall reading somewhere that cats can catch and transmit yawns to/from humans (and maybe dogs, too), but not other species.

BTW... I did not yawn myself, probably because I didn't see you yawn and I don't know you... I've also read that yawns are more contagious the more familiar you are with the yawner. Catching yawns from strangers is less common unless you are attracted to them. ;-) Yawning on a first date can tell you if he/she is into you if they yawn in response.

[Taverner]

4. I don't know.

Wonder if it's like the gag-reflex that arises from watching another vomit...

[Occulus]

6. What a... colorful... example.

I expect you're right, though, but that doesn't explain 'spontaneous' yawning. That is, a yawn that comes from nowhere.

Which, of course, can make others yawn themselves. Jesus- continuing this thread is making me think about yawning, which is making me yawn.

Weird.

[iris27]

7. Well, it's hardly the height of scientific rigor, but Mythbusters ran some tests on it with a room

full of strangers, both with and without a planted yawner. Those in the room with the yawner were only 4% more likely to yawn, which, when the math was done, wasn't a statistically significant increase.

So...who knows, basically. :)

[midnight]

10. Yes I did yawn...

[Orsino]

12. Makes sense as an evolutionary social-glue development.

The folks you sleep near are the ones you trust, who help to guard your cave. The family that naps together take craps together, or something.

[reggie the dog]

13. yes i yawned

you also yawn a lot when coming up on mushrooms, you stop yawning when you start peaking

[Odin2005]

16. I yawned when I clicked on this thread!

:rofl: