Good question! Is yawning contagious?

Everyone yawns, not only humans but also animals. A lot of scientific research has already been done, but the function of yawning is still not clear.

What is now clear is that yawning is contagious. You probably know it, when someone else yawns, you spontaneously start yawning yourself. American researchers have discovered that this risk is greatest among young people. During their yawning study, they found a correlation between the affectiveness of yawning and age. For that study, the scientists had 328 subjects aged 18 to 38 take a test.

The subjects were asked to watch a movie that involved a lot of yawning for three minutes. Of the participants under the age of 25, 80 percent started yawning. Only 40 percent of people over 50 yawned. Why this is so? Fatigue and location were found to have no influence, according to the researchers. The test was performed both at home and in a laboratory.

Empathy

Many scientists believe that empathy and compassion play a major role in contagious yawning. But in this American study, they found no connection.

Did you know that by the way a yawn of family and acquaintances more contagious works from strangers? The reason for this is also still unknown. In any case, researchers are steadily continuing to unravel all the riddles surrounding yawning.