Emotional Contagion: How Your Emotions Can Be Contaminated by Others( the science)

 

Have you ever felt the urge to smile when someone else smiles at you? Or felt the sadness of your friend when they are going through tough times? Well, that's emotional contagion, a phenomenon that has fascinated scientists for years.

 

The term "emotional contagion" was first coined by Elaine Hatfield and describes how people tend to mimic the emotions and behaviours of others. It's the reason why we feel happy when we see someone else laughing or cry when we see someone else upset. Emotional contagion refers to the tendency to mimic the emotional experience of another person and thus to express/experience the same emotion.

 

The contagiousness of emotions has been demonstrated in various settings, such as face-to-face interactions, movies, songs, and even pictures. Researchers have shown that movies are highly effective instruments for communicating emotions. Several studies have obtained evidence that Duchenne smiles (genuine smiles) appear in participants who are watching pleasant movies.

 

Additionally, a study by Isabella (2012) shows that emotional contagion from a picture can also change consumer behaviours. Social interactions can trigger emotional contagion between individuals, resulting in behavioural synchrony. When someone smiles at us, we naturally smile back to align with the other person's emotions. Instinctively, humans tend to align with the emotional states they perceive during interactions.

 

The transmissibility of emotions can be altered by whether or not the emotion is congruent or incongruent with a behaviour. Researchers have found that such mimicry comes naturally to humans and other social creatures based partly on the existence of "mirror neurons" in our cerebral cortex. Mirror neurons were first discovered in the 1990s, and they help explain how humans can "mirror" each other, including our emotions.

 

Historically, researchers neglected studies of how music impacted emotions, as theorists believed that emotions evolved so individuals could deal with situations significant to either reproduction or survival. But now we know that music is a powerful contagion. Music influences our emotions too.

 

Advertisers and technology companies have long utilized emotional contagion to associate positive feelings with their brands. This has been derided by some critics as "emotional engineering." The contagiousness of emotions has led to behavioural synchrony, as people tend to show similar facial, vocal, or postural expressions and similar neurophysiological and neurological reactions toward the interacting party.

 

While emotional contagion can be a positive force that brings people together, it can also have negative consequences. If you're experiencing particularly intense emotions, it's essential to take steps to avoid spreading those emotions to other people.

 

In conclusion, emotional contagion is a fascinating phenomenon that has captured the attention of scientists for years. It shows the power of human connection and the impact we have on each other's emotional states. Whether it's through face-to-face interactions, movies, pictures, or music, emotional contagion is a force that we need to be aware of and use carefully.

 

References

1.       https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/emotional-contagion#:~:text=The%20term%20%E2%80%9Cemotional%20contagion%E2%80%9D%20has,Borgstr%C3%B6m%20and%20J%C3%B6nsson%2C%202004

2.       https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.712606

3.       https://positivepsychology.com/emotional-contagion/

4.       https://www.simplypsychology.org/what-is-emotional-contagion.html