Do you YAWN when others yawn?
@lordwarwizard (35747)
Singapore
March 11, 2007 6:40am CST
*Yawn* *YAWN!!*
I am yawning, are you?
When you are in a group of people, do you find that when someone starts yawning, another will soon follow? Yet till now, at least as far as I know, there is no conclusive evidence to show that yawning is infectious. And so, I would say that it is all in the mind. When someone yawns, we are reminded that we are *perhaps* tired too... so we yawn in kind.
Here's another cranky wizard's experiment. Humor me, yea? I want you to close your eyes and relax in your chair. Now imagine, as vividly as possible, a group of friends in front of you. Your friends start to yawn one by one. If you are not intentionally and consciously suppressing your urge, I would say you would feel like yawning too.
So what does this prove? Just like I said - it's all in the mind. There is no real person in front of you, yet you feel like yawning too. Why, I find myself yawning as I am typing this discussion about yawning too!
What are your thoughts on this subject of yawning? Do share. ;-)
39 people like this
159 responses
@charms88 (7538)
• Philippines
11 Mar 07
Wizarrrd dear, I have already done a lot of what you are suggesting in your previous discussions. What's next...how about controlling the urge to "fart." As of now, I'm yawning to heaven. Just who told you yawning is infectious. Maybe yours do...
4 people like this
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
11 Mar 07
Go ahead, I am waiting for more exciting discussions from you. ;-)
2 people like this
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
11 Mar 07
That's not one topic on my to-do list. In fact I can promise you I won't start a topic on flatulence. Just for your sake, bunny. :P
2 people like this
@littlehoneymonster (383)
•
11 Mar 07
yes i do and when im on the phone to my sister were always yawning for some reason
4 people like this
@flowerchilde (12529)
• United States
14 Mar 07
I noticed that over the phone too! Too weird..
1 person likes this
@Tinkerbelle12 (3)
• United States
12 Mar 07
I find myself following others but especially with people I feel very comfortable with, like family or friends. I don't know if it's all in the mind or if the energy in the room is aligning. Just one of those questions that is hard to prove...a real mystery or something we have faith in. :)!
@smacksman (6053)
•
11 Mar 07
Yes, I'm yawning right now and I can't even see you!
But i love a good yawn. It stretches all those face/head muscles that get tensioned up and then relief as the yawn subsides. Glorious.
Almost as good a feeling as a good sneeze. Almost but not quite.
@flowerchilde (12529)
• United States
14 Mar 07
Ah yes, a good sneeze.. they say you lose consciousness for a split second when you sneeze.. Good thing, I suppose they aren't catching like yawns, or we'd all be unconscious before we knew it..
1 person likes this
@twistedangelwings (350)
• Australia
11 Mar 07
Absolutely. If I see someone yawn, 2 seconds later I can guanatee that I too will be yawning. I know I've made others yawn as well, with comments being said like 'now you are making me yawn' and the like. Actually, I don't think I know anyone that hasn't started yawning when someone else has.
Truth be told upon reading the work yawn a couple of times in your post I found myself yawning. Now that could just be because I am actually starting to get tired or because the actual word sets me off now... just what I needed. :)
I do believe it is completely a mind thing though.
4 people like this
@saikiranc87 (119)
• India
11 Mar 07
Yes, you are right, its a tendency of yawning if you see other persons yawn. I can't give a scientific reason so as to why this happens but I admit that every person yawns if he/she sees other person yawning. And I don't think your experiment works :) . But yes, I was yawning while reading the discussion :) .
Happy Mylotting ..!!
@joshdale08 (2320)
• Philippines
11 Mar 07
lol! this is fun! and, yes, i did yawn. the same happens, too when somebody in your group starts "picking" her eyes. soon, somebody, if not everybody in the group does it, too. lol!
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
11 Mar 07
Oh? I haven't gotten into that situation myself before. :P
@Thomas73 (1467)
• Switzerland
11 Mar 07
Yawning is actually contagious and most of us do not even do it consciously when someone else yawns. This kind of behaviour is also found in other animals and most probably comes from some 'ancestral' wiring of the brain.
Some researchers have suggested that, in early humans, yawn contagiousness could have helped individuals communicate their alertness levels to each other, and thus coordinate the sleep schedules of the community. This may also be part of a more general phenomenon of unconscious signals that serve to synchronise group behaviour that could be essential for species survival.
To cut a long story short: yes, I do yawn too when I see someone else yawning. ;)
3 people like this
@villageanne (8553)
• United States
12 Mar 07
Ok What are you doing??? Trying to start a yawning revoloution. I am yawning right now. Evidently it dont take much to make me yawn. LOL All I have to do is see or hear someone yawn and I am there. lol
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
12 Mar 07
Why do we yawn? Yes lordwarwizard...the urge is definitely there...lol. Yawning is not only an indication that we are tired but also a way of our body increasing the oxygen content in our blood stream.
Years ago I used to travel to the city to my place of work by train. It was fairly boring sometimes so I would start to yawn and see how many people I could "infect". I would often amuse myself this way.
@shaz6611 (951)
• Australia
12 Mar 07
There was a local study done on whether yawning was contagious or not a couple of years ago. It was found that once one person yawned in a controlled group that within a few minutes almost half of the people yawned also. I forget the number of people that were involved but however many it was yawning sure is catchy.
2 people like this
@monkeywriter (2004)
• United States
12 Mar 07
I yawn when you say yawn. YES I YAWNED TWICE SINCE I STARTED THIS RESPONSE! You yawn on reaction. I dont know why. I just know if you say yawn, or if I see a yawn I WILL yawn.
I btw heard that sometimes you yawn not cause you are tired but if you are hungry (might work with thirsty too!) Just food for thought.
Thanx a lot. I yawned so much my cough returned! ;) heehee
2 people like this
@anonymili (3138)
•
11 Mar 07
Yes I have to admit to this myself. It happens and has happened many times over the years when I'm work or with a group of friends that one person yawns, then another does and soon everyone's had a yawn! Yes, reading your discussion and picturing the scenario you mentioned made me yawn too LOL. You might not even be tired but you still yawn, as someone said to me once "yawning is infectious!" See I'm yawning? Have another yawn yourself now LOL x
4 people like this
@ShadyGrove (996)
• United States
11 Mar 07
I usually feel like yawning when I see others yawn. Of course if I'm around a bunch of sleepy or bored people and the yawns become contagious, I generally will only yawn back for 1 or 2 times, then it has lost it's affect on me.
Smiles are just as effective in passing on! lol :o)
2 people like this
@bluewings (3857)
•
12 Mar 07
lol yeah,I did feel like yawning when I tried this experiment.Even if real life situations I feel like yawning when someone else is yawning.Great observation and even better imagination!lol It's possibly the same reason that optimism or pessimism is so infectious.It's all in the mind.Take that out and you will be normal...as normal as a mindless person,lol Thanks for the laugh.
@Y3110w (113)
• United States
12 Mar 07
LOL I yawned when I read that. Yes I actully do yawn when I see someone else yawn, I don't understand how some don't. But I think it's something in our brain. Maybe it's like laughing, if someone laughs for a while in front of me something inside me will be triggered and I will start to laugh.
2 people like this
