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Contagious Yawning

Jellyfish1234

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So recently I discovered that 'Contagious Yawning' exists, and is linked to our brain and to empathy. Apparently if you aren't effected by contagious yawning, it's likely you may have a neurological condition that effects the development of empathy, such as Autism or Psychopathy. It's interesting (and a bit worrying) for me, because I don't find yawns contagious, yet I'm pretty sure I have well developed empathy. I'm just curious if there's anyone who has any other knowledge of this subject, or anyone else who doesn't find yawning contagious here. Who knows, maybe it could even be linked somehow to typology?

Here's a video to see if you yawn or not!
The Yawn-O-Meter (How Long Can You Last?) - YouTube
 

Smilephantomhive

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I wouldn't worry about it. There's probably some other reason for why yawing isn't contagious to you.
 

Hitoshi-San

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I doubt it's related to much. it took me like 2 minutes to yawn while I was watching the video, but now I can't stop. I guess you're just lucky you don't yawn all the time.
 

Obfuscate

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i was well aware of the connection, and not planning to open the thread... but i yawned when i read the title (and again just now) so i thought it would be fun to mention that...
 
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I don't find yawning contagious either. I watched the video and didn't yawn at all as to be expected, but I ended up laughing half way through because some of the people looked like they were having an orgasm. :alttongue:

Oh, and I'm definitely not a psychopath. I have empathy, dammit. :cry:

Also not autistic. :shrug:
 

erg

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I've always had this problem. I even became the laughingstock of the class when I was little. Not sure what it could be related to.
 

anticlimatic

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I yawned reading the title of this thread.

I don't think it's empathy so much as a pavlovian response, and I have a bit of empirical data for this. That people do it when other people yawn probably originated in staying up late with other people and watching everyone yawn out of exhaustion while you yourself did the same. So seeing people yawn becomes a personal reminder of feeling exhausted and yawning yourself. If you managed to avoid situations like this at an early age, maybe by not doing a lot of all nighters with friends, or having siblings to share a bedroom with, or staring into a mirror anytime you yawn, I can see escaping the response. It's just a visual cue that reminds you of what it feels like to need to yawn.

I was a catholic alter boy when I was a kid, and mass consists largely of a routine service in which the same prayers are often said at the same time week in and week out. During one prayer, the nicene creed to be exact, there was one particular line about half way through that trigged the yawn response identical to watching someone yawn. Week after week year after year I could not get through that line of prayer without yawning, and it had nothing to do with empathy. No idea how it started, but eventually it became self fulfilling.
 

Jellyfish1234

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I've always had this problem. I even became the laughingstock of the class when I was little. Not sure what it could be related to.

You became the laughing stock because you found it contagious or because you didn't?
 

erg

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You became the laughing stock because you found it contagious or because you didn't?

Because my classmates thought it was funny to yawn all the time in front on me and see how I had to yawn back at them.
 

Habba

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Didn't watch no videos, so I don't know what it's about. However, the phenomen is known as micro synchronization, and it is stronger in empathic people and in women. We are social animals who used to live in packs. It was beneficial for us to share our emotional and psychological states. Same applies to many emotions, smiling, micro expressions and so on. It has also been suggested that quicker we start copying behaviours of others unknowingly, the better we have settled in the psycgosocial environment.
I'd put my money on Fe-dominants being quickest at this.
 
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