How Contagious Yawning Works

article I wrote once. It's called does contagious yawning Mean You're nice? Are you guys familiar with this? Yeah, it's pretty amazing to think that something we don't know much about, like yawning, could actually be passed on because you see somebody on and you have an empathetic feeling toward that person. Yeah, and it's kind of amazing, Candice. Yeah. And not only is yawning a strange phenomenon, Empsy is pretty strange too,

depending on how it's expressed. And empathy, just to bring you up to speed is just essentially the way that you're relating to another person that shows that you're trying to experience the feelings that they're experiencing, be them, you know, positive or negative. UM. Empathy just shows that you're in tune of what the other person is doing. You can identify with them, you can put yourself in their shoes, and a nutshell, perfect nutshell. That's pretty much the link

that people. Well, researchers have concluded that that we yawn contagiously or were susceptible the contagious yawning because we feel empathy. But that's pretty much where the solid explanations go. And Candice is actually yawning. I can't get over it. I'm just that nice. But you know, I did want to tell you guys a little bit about yawning and some of the theories that are floating around out there about it. You know, it doesn't just mean you're what sleepy board

all the above, that's true. It could it could be a number of things. Um. Some researchers have even gone so far as to suggest that it could be a little bit like your teeth or you're not your teeth, your dog's tea when they he or she is baring their teeth, the show anger or you know, they're being defensive. They're saying, you know, maybe you are doing this you know, subliminal response that you are going, you know, don't mess

with me. Yeah, don't mess with me exactly. And uh, you know, people have even said that they can yawn at their dog and their dog will yawn back. So maybe the maybe it's something there to that theory. So have they found in studies that people yawn when their dogs bear their teeth at them? Um, you know, I didn't see anything suggesting that, to be honest with you, but uh, but it is interesting to know what I mean. Um, I think you were saying earlier that uh, it may

actually be linked to a fight or flight response. Um, and that you know when you put it that way, that it's not so uh not so strange. Sure, we were talking about the African savannah, the fight, the fight or flight response you mean, right, well, yeah, there's a theory that um, contagious yawning. Well, since you yawn maybe to make yourself more alert, which would be ful when you feel fear. Yeah, it's because it carries blood to your brain right now, alert exactly. And if you feel

fierce safe because the lions approaching and you yawned a response. Uh, through empathy, a fellow member of your species could pick up that yawn and pass it along, and before you know, if there's no one there for the lion to eat, because they've all got adult, they got out of there. Another theory has to do with the eyes as cues. Have you guys heard about this the eyes? Have it? Actually?

A researcher that I read about did a study to try and since the yawning his contagious, he wanted to try and find a yawn that would would get everybody, and the best he could do was about people who when he'd cover up the mouth, um the eyes still made people yawned, because he assumed that it was the big, wide open mouth and the stretch that made people want to yawn. But when he covered up the eyes and just showed the mouth by itself, he got a slightly

less response. And he never could find a yawn that was the perfect storm, one that would have always make people yawned. So it seems like it's the eyes right buy into that, because it's not like the parts of your face don't work in conjunction with each other. When I smile, my eyes crinkle or you know when I sneeze, sign my news scrunches up. Everything sort of works in conjunction with each other. So I totally buy that. And another theory I buy is that people yawned because their

bodies aren't getting enough oxygen. And that's a quick way to gulp a whole lot of air right in. It's just open your mouth as well as it can go and get it inside. And if others see you daring this, they might take a cue that their environment isn't supplying them with enough oxygen either, so they yawn just when you do. Apparently, the fact that the eyes are served as a cue for contagious yawning, it's supported by a

study of autistics or people with autism. Um that they showed slides of people yawning, but they were shown just the just the mouths. And apparently people with autism get their cues from people's eyes. Uh, and they had no

action to it whatsoever. Um. Well, yeah, which is interesting, and we know just sort of general science that people with autism have um a little bit less of an understanding of people's verbal or non verbal cues and said, it's interesting that they didn't get both parts work in conjunction to have an empathetic response, but that they just responded to the eyes. Well, it's it's going to require

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