How common
Does this happen to you?
These are answers from visitors, not a study.
How it works
Everyone yawns. Yawning is seen in fish, birds, and mammals, and human babies yawn before birth1. Catching a yawn from someone else is different. It is a social reflex, and only some animals have it.
The trigger can be seeing a yawn, hearing one, reading the word, or simply thinking about yawning1. The response is not immediate. It usually arrives within a few minutes. In a 1986 study by Robert Provine, 55% of people yawned within five minutes of watching a video of yawning faces1.
The effect is linked to the social brain. People who score higher on empathy tests catch yawns more often12. Children under about four rarely catch yawns. The ability appears at about the age when children start to understand that other people have their own thoughts1. Contagious yawning is weaker in autistic people and in people with high psychopathy scores1. It is stronger between friends and family than between strangers1.
Dogs catch yawns from humans, and chimpanzees catch them from each other1. Why yawning is contagious at all is still debated. One idea is that it helps a group stay alert at the same times. Another is that it is a side effect of copying what other people do1.
Try it
- Read this sentence about a big, slow, jaw-stretching yawn.
- Watch a one-minute video of people yawning.
- Set a timer for five minutes and count how many times you yawn.
- Try the same on a friend without telling them what you are testing.
About half of people yawn at least once. If you do not, you are in the other half.