Is yawning contagious?

Not exactly. I've seen someone feign a yawn, setting off a chain of yawns in the room, apart from myself.

It was interesting, and proved that myth false.

	memetix -  330 pts -  (3 years ago)
	Whether the initial yawn was genuine or not makes no difference. People observed a yawn behavior, and as you said, it set off a chain of yawns. That supports the hypothesis that yawns are contagious.

Yes a yawn is very contagious. If it wasn't you wouldn't yawn every time you see someone else yawn.

I heard something very interesting before about yawning. Supposedly when cave men were around, if one yawned in the cave it meant there wasn't enough oxygen in there. Now I know this doesn't fit with the question but non the less it was very interesting to me so I wanted to share it. And whether or not it's true I have no idea.

	bobbonew -  2656 pts -  (2 years ago)
	I told you about this! Yes I read this in an article on Wikipedia I believe. Honestly it certainly sounds quite plausible.

A yawn may only be "contagious" because it's a behavior that other people are feeling but don't actually feel comfortable doing depending on the situation. A yawn itself isn't contagious AT ALL, but the act of a yawn (maybe even a fake one) may make other people think it's fine to yawn as well.

The chain of yawns mentioned earlier probably contained a lot of people faking it as well just to get a laugh.

Only through the phenomenon of empathy.

	god -  4827 pts -  (2 years ago)
	You are a social animal, you want to feel what others feel to instill bonds between each other, thus being social.