Contagious Behaviors: What We Can Catch From Others

05 Apr Contagious Behaviors: What We Can Catch From Others

We all know about yawns. One person opens his or her mouth and creates a chain reaction – which is not good if you are at your kid’s piano recital. But what other behaviors are contagious? Read on. We curated this blog by Carolyn Gregoire from the Huff Post.

Certain behaviors — like laughing and yawning — can be easier to catch than the cold that’s going around your office, according to psychologists.

“Behavioral contagion” is a well-documented phenomenon in psychology. Our brains are hardwired for social interaction and bonding. Mimicking the actions we see in those around us is a natural way that we empathize and gain a sense of how others are feeling.

Here’s a sampling of some of the behaviors that we might “catch” from our friends or coworkers.

Perhaps the best-known contagious behavior is yawning — even dogs can catch yawns from their owners. Contagious yawning is a sign of empathy and a form of social bonding.

Risk-Taking

This may explain how groups of teenage boys can do such stupid things: Risky behavior is contagious.

A new study conducted by neuroscientists at the California Institute of Technologyfinds that after we witness others engaging in financially risky behavior — such as making bets in a gambling scenario — we in turn are more likely to take similar risks. (Investors, take note!)

“Primarily, our findings advance our understanding in how our own risk-taking behavior can be influenced through passively observing other agents,” Shinsuke Suzuki, a postdoctoral researcher in neuroscience at the institute and a co-author of the study, told LiveScience.

Yawning

Perhaps the best-known contagious behavior is yawning — even dogs can catch yawns from their owners. Contagious yawning is a sign of empathy and a form of social bonding.

But there’s one type of person who seems to be completely immune to the contagion effect of yawning. A study last year found that psychopaths, whose personalities are marked by the inability to feel empathy, don’t “catch” yawns like the rest of us…

Continue reading here.