Journal of Experimental Psychology: General Contagious Yawning, Empathy, and Their Relation to Prosocial Behavior Axel Franzen, Sebastian Mader, and Fabian Winter Online First Publication, May 17, 2018. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xge0000422 CITATION Franzen, A., Mader, S., & Winter, F. (2018, May 17). Contagious Yawning, Empathy, and Their Relation to Prosocial Behavior. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xge0000422 Journal of Experimental Psychology: General © 2018 American Psychological Association 2018, Vol. 0, No. 999, 000 0096-3445/18/$12.00 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xge0000422 Contagious Yawning, Empathy, and Their Relation to Prosocial Behavior Axel Franzen and Sebastian Mader Fabian Winter University of Bern Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, Bonn, Germany Humans express facial mimicry across a variety of actions. This article explores a distinct example, contagious yawning, and the links to empathy and prosocial behavior. Prior studies have suggested that there is a positive link between empathy and the susceptibility to contagious yawning. However, the existing evidence has been sparse and contradictory. We present results from 2 laboratory studies conducted with 171 (Study 1) and 333 (Study 2) student volunteers. Subjects were video-recorded while watching muted videos of individuals yawning, scratching, or laughing. Empathy was measured using the Interpersonal Reactivity Index. Although subjects imitated all facial expressions to large extents, our studies show that only contagious yawning was related to empathy. Subjects who yawned in response to observing others yawn exhibited higher empathy values by half a standard deviation. However, we found no evidence that the susceptibility to contagious yawning is directly related to prosocial behavior. Keywords: contagious yawning, empathy, prosocial behavior, social coordination, mimicry Supplemental materials: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xge0000422.supp Humans are social beings. They are highly skilled in interpreting imitated person. Hence, mimicking others can elevate empathy, the facial expressions and gestures of other humans and in re- which in turn increases prosocial behavior even toward others not sponding to the signals, expectations, and behaviors encoded in related to the mimicking. these actions. Some forms of emotional and behavioral imitation Also, the relation between empathy and prosocial behavior has appear unconsciously and within milliseconds (e.g., Chartrand & been much discussed in the literature (Batson, 1991; Batson & Bargh, 1999; Dimberg, Thunberg, & Elmehed, 2000). Other reac- Moran, 1999; de Waal, 2012; Eisenberg & Miller, 1987; Galinsky, tions are more conscious and context-dependent (see Hess & Maddux, Gilin, & White, 2008; Stocks, Lishner, & Decker, 2009). Fischer, 2013, for a recent review). Both strands of the literature Some authors have suggested that empathy is an unpleasant emo- have suggested that mimicry, be it conscious or unconscious, tion (e.g. Batson, 1991). One way of reducing it is to either escape facilitates social cohesion and coordination in groups (e.g., Lakin, situations in which empathy emerges or help those in need. This Jefferis, Cheng, & Chartrand, 2003). The existing evidence has hypothesis has been termed the aversiveϪarousal reduction hy- suggested that mimicry works in two ways: First, the mimickee pothesis (Batson, 1991). According to the hypothesis, prosocial infers from the imitation of his behavior or gestures that others behavior is basically a selfish response. An alternative mechanism understand his intentions or emotions. Second, the mimicker en- is that empathy highlights an altruistic perspective. So far, most hances his empathy with the person he imitates. Thus, Stel, Van evidence has supported this empathyϪaltruism hypothesis (Doris Baaren, and Vonk (2008) showed that subjects who were in- & Stitch, 2007; Nichols, 2004; Stocks et al., 2009). structed to mimic others also have higher levels of empathy for the In this article, we focus on a distinct and peculiar phenom- enon of mimicry, namely the contagiousness of yawning. Hu- mans, like most vertebrates, yawn occasionally. The existing evidence has suggested that it is induced by sleepiness (e.g. This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers. Provine, 2005). Yawning increases the oxygen content of the This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual userAxel and is not to be disseminatedFranzen broadly. and Sebastian Mader, Institute of Sociology, University of Bern; Fabian Winter, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective blood and lowers the brain temperature, functioning as a Goods, Bonn, Germany. wake-up call (Gallup & Gallup, 2007, 2008; Guggisberg, Ma- The results of this research were presented at the 17th International this, Schnider, & Hess, 2011; Provine, 2005; Zilli, Giganti, & Conference on Social Dilemmas in Taormina, Sicily, on June 23, 2017; at Uga, 2008). However, yawning can also be contagious. Former the 112th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association in studies have suggested that about 40% to 60% of humans are Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on August 15, 2017; and at the seminar susceptible to contagious yawning (e.g., Gallup, Church, Rational Choice Sociology: Theory and Empirical Applications in Venice, Miller, Risko, & Kingstone, 2016), and there is also evidence Italy, on November 23, 2016. that it is contagious among some animals, like chimpanzees, We would like to thank Anna Akocsi, Nathalie Eggenberg, Lara Eigen- dogs, and wolves (e.g., Romero, Ito, Saito, & Hasegawa, 2014; mann, Anissa Heim, Raffaele Keller, Gianna Neeser, Noemi Parlevliet, Sivanujan Selliah, and Laura Zenklusen for assisting with the data collection. Romero, Konno, & Hasegawa, 2013). Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Axel Moreover, some studies have suggested that the susceptibility Franzen, Institute of Sociology, University of Bern, Fabrikstrasse 8, 3012 of contagious yawning is linked to the degree of empathy Bern, Switzerland. E-mail: [email protected] (Lehmann, 1979; Norscia et al., 2016b; Palagi, Leone, Mancini, 1 2 FRANZEN, MADER, AND WINTER & Ferrari, 2009; Provine, 1986, 2005). For instance, Platek, that found no evidence (Bartholomew & Cirulli, 2014) used a Critton, Myers, and Gallup (2003) found that individuals who weak measure of the occurrence of contagious yawning. To are more sensitive to contagious yawning also recognize social gain further insight into the phenomenon of contagious yawning faux pas in written reports better than do subjects who are not and its relation to empathy, we conducted two studies with large susceptible to it. Yawning is also more contagious among samples of healthy volunteers. Study 1 was conducted in a individuals with close social ties, compared to strangers (Nors- manner very similar to that in the Bartholomew and Cirulli cia, Demuru, & Palagi, 2016b; Norscia & Palagi, 2011; Palagi, (2014) study. However, we videotaped subjects while they were Norscia, & Demuru, 2014). Moreover, Haker and Rössler watching the stimulus videos and coded the occurrence of (2009) found that individuals with schizophrenic disorders are yawning from these videos. Because prior studies have pro- less sensitive to contagious yawning and also display lower posed that empathy is an important prerequisite of altruism and empathy values compared to healthy individuals. Further evi- prosocial behavior (Batson & Moran, 1999; de Waal, 2012; de dence stems from studies in neuroscience that use functional Waal & Preston, 2017; Eisenberg & Miller, 1987; Galinsky et magnetic resonance imaging. These results suggest that the urge al., 2008; Stocks et al., 2009), we extend the existing literature to yawn when observing others yawning is related to neural on contagious yawning by also investigating whether it is activity in those areas of the brain that are involved in assessing directly related to prosocial behavior. In Study 1, the test self-referent information (Arnott, Singhal, & Goodale, 2009; consisted of a dictator game in which subjects had the oppor- Brown et al., 2017; Cooper et al., 2012; Haker, Kawohl, Her- tunity to donate some (or all) of their endowment to an anon- wig, & Rössler, 2013; Platek, Mohamed, & Gallup, 2005). ymous recipient. Because Study 1 also did not involve a control To sum up, research so far has suggested that asking indi- group, we conducted a second study, in which subjects were viduals to imitate others elevates their empathy and that empa- randomized into either a treatment group or a control group. In thy in turn increases prosocial behavior. In this article we the treatment group, subjects watched videos of laughing faces, investigate a slightly different question. We study the link of people scratching or touching their face or hair, and yawning contagious yawning and empathy if researchers do not actively faces. In the control group, subjects watched only laughing and encourage the mimicry. Hence, we investigate whether the scratching subjects. This experimental procedure allowed us to susceptibility of contagious yawning is also an indicator of determine the natural occurrence of spontaneous yawning in individuals’ baseline empathy level. Some existing evidence on comparison to contagious yawning. Moreover, it also allowed contagious yawning has suggested this link. However, other us to test whether