Emotional Contagion: A Theory Or Reality?

Emotional contagion is a phenomenon where the observed behaviour of one individual leads to the reflexive production of the same behaviour by others. This results in a transfer of mood between individuals in a group. Emotional contagion can be either implicit, undertaken by the receiver through automatic or self-evaluating processes, or explicit, undertaken by the transmitter through a purposeful manipulation of emotional states to achieve a desired result.

Emotional contagion is a form of social contagion that involves the spontaneous spread of emotions and related behaviours. It can happen from one person to another, or in a larger group. Emotional contagion is important to personal relationships because it fosters emotional synchrony between individuals.

The term was first used in 1897 by James Baldwin, who referred to it as contagion of feeling. The concept was later explored by Elaine Hatfield, John Cacioppo and Richard Rapson in their 1993 paper, where they defined it as the tendency to automatically mimic and synchronize expressions, vocalisations, postures, and movements with those of another person.

Emotional contagion is a form of social contagion

Emotional contagion can be traced back to early research that emphasised its basis in person-to-person contact and mimicry, including of non-verbal cues such as tone of voice, gestures and facial expressions. This mimicry is thought to come naturally to humans and other social creatures due to the existence of "mirror neurons" in the cerebral cortex.

The phenomenon of emotional contagion was first characterised by Elaine Hatfield, who defined it as:

> "the tendency to automatically mimic and synchronize expressions, vocalisations, postures, and movements with those of another person's and, consequently, to converge emotionally."

Hatfield theorised that emotional contagion occurs in two steps: first, we imitate people (e.g. if someone smiles at you, you smile back); second, our own emotional experiences change based on the non-verbal signals of emotion that we give off. For example, smiling makes one feel happier, and frowning makes one feel worse.

Emotional contagion can be negative or positive. For example, when a corporate leader frequently smiles and is generally kind and positive towards employees, this would be an example of positive emotional contagion. On the other hand, when people are stirred to anger and violent acts by a demagogue, this would be an example of negative emotional contagion.

Emotional contagion has been studied from a variety of perspectives, including organisational, social, familial, developmental and neurological. It has been found to be important to personal relationships because it fosters emotional synchrony between individuals.

It involves the spontaneous spread of emotions and related behaviours

Emotional contagion is a form of social contagion that involves the spontaneous spread of emotions and related behaviours. Emotional contagion can occur between two people or within a larger group. It can be implicit, undertaken by the receiver through automatic or self-evaluating processes, or explicit, undertaken by the transmitter through a purposeful manipulation of emotional states to achieve a desired result.

Emotional contagion is important to personal relationships because it fosters emotional synchrony between individuals. It can be triggered by facial expressions, indirect human interactions, and/or by observing other people's behaviour in direct and indirect interactions. It can also be triggered physiologically or neurologically by synchronising with the emotional state of others during human interactions.

Emotional contagion has been observed in humans, other primates, dogs, and chickens.

It can be implicit or explicit

Emotional contagion can be implicit or explicit. Implicit emotional contagion is a subconscious process that occurs without conscious thought. It is a primitive, automatic, and unconscious behaviour that takes place through a series of steps. When a receiver is interacting with a sender, they perceive the emotional expressions of the sender. The receiver then automatically mimics those emotional expressions. Through the process of afferent feedback, these new expressions are translated into the receiver feeling the emotions of the sender, thus leading to emotional convergence.

Explicit emotional contagion, on the other hand, is a conscious, deliberate process. It is a more cognitive process that demands more cognitive effort. According to this view, people engage in social comparison to see if their emotional reaction is congruent with the people around them. The recipient uses the emotion as a type of social information to understand how they should be feeling. People respond differently to positive and negative stimuli; negative events tend to elicit stronger and quicker emotional, behavioural, and cognitive responses than neutral or positive events.

It can be positive or negative

Emotional contagion can be both positive and negative.

Positive emotional contagion

Positive emotional contagion can be seen in the workplace, where leaders who frequently smile and are kind and positive towards their employees can inspire positive feelings throughout the workforce. This can lead to a better and safer work environment.

Positive emotional contagion can also be seen in marketing, where companies use emotional contagion to associate positive feelings with their brands. For example, some Japanese shops have used "smile-scanning software" to analyse smiles, eye movements, lip curvature, and facial wrinkles to train employees to display more genuine smiles, leading to increased customer satisfaction.

Negative emotional contagion

Negative emotional contagion can be seen when people are stirred to anger and violent acts by a demagogue. Negative emotional contagion in the workplace can also lead to more cognitive errors and workplace accidents.

Negative emotional contagion can also be seen on social media, where the spread of negative emotional contagion can have both positive and negative effects. For example, a study found that limiting social media use to 30 minutes per day can contribute to greater emotional well-being.

It can be primitive, automatic and unconscious

Emotional contagion is a primitive, automatic, and unconscious behaviour that takes place through a series of steps.

Elaine Hatfield, who first characterised emotional contagion, defined it as "the tendency to automatically mimic and synchronize expressions, vocalizations, postures, and movements with those of another person's and, consequently, to converge emotionally".

Hatfield theorises that emotional contagion is a two-step process: first, we imitate people (e.g. if someone smiles at you, you smile back). Second, our own emotional experiences change based on the non-verbal signals of emotion that we give off. For example, smiling makes us feel happier, and frowning makes us feel worse.

Hatfield draws on the research of social psychophysiologists who found that facial mimicry can be nearly instantaneous and that people's facial expressions tend to reflect, at least on a rudimentary level, the changes in the emotional expression of the people they are observing.

Hatfield's research also suggests that the activation of and feedback from facial, vocal, postural, and movement mimicry can affect the subjective emotional experience. For example, smiling makes us feel happier, and frowning makes us feel worse.

Emotional contagion can be negative or positive. For example, when a corporate leader frequently smiles, is kind and positive towards employees, and inspires positive feelings throughout the workforce, this would be an example of positive emotional contagion. On the other hand, when people are stirred to anger and violent acts by a demagogue, that would be an example of negative emotional contagion.

Emotional contagion can be transmitted in many ways, both implicitly and explicitly. For example, it can be undertaken by the receiver through automatic or self-evaluating processes, or by the transmitter through a purposeful manipulation of emotional states, to achieve a desired result.

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