Why is a yawn contagious?

Question

(sorry if my spelling sucks, I did however check it & it said it was correct...but it still looks wrong to me!!)

Answer 1

It's an age-old question, one that can keep you awake at night, and there is no exact answer. Near as we can tell, yawning is a way to signal others around us that we feel like getting some shuteye. But I've fallen asleep without yawning, and, of course, I've fallen asleep after my own virtual yawning festival, yawn after yawn. These observations lead me to believe that yawning sends a signal. As a kid, I heard that yawns are a means to get more oxygen or stretch certain facial muscles before sleeping. I'm skeptical of those explanations, because sleep and yawns are not always directly connected. If you're sleepy, you don't always yawn. If you need oxygen, you just breathe deeply.

Of course, yawning seems to be a very old form of behavior. It seems to be programmed deep in our brains. I've seen dogs yawn, and it makes me want to yawn right along with 'em. When your best canine friend is opening his jaws wide and shaking his shoulders, you can bet that he's not anxious to go outside and play or go for a long old walk. Modern wild dogs in Africa live in packs. They seldom stray off on their own. A yawn is a dog's way of telling her buddies in the dog pack (or you as her keeper) that she's ready for some doggie z's.


Perhaps yawning was preserved in our brains from all the way back in ancient times. It may have been desirable for everyone in a tribe of humans (or other animals) to go to sleep at about the same time. That way, perhaps everyone in the tribe would be on the same sleep schedule, ready to take on the challenge of the next morning. Perhaps yawning developed in a tribe of nomads, people who wandered from camp to camp every few days. Getting up, packing, and setting off on a journey would require everyone to be working together at the same time. You wouldn't want any stragglers lagging behind the main group. They might get attacked or they might get just plain lost.
You also wouldn't want a small group to go off on their own ahead of everyone else. They might get attacked, too, being a small number easy for an enemy to overcome. Or they might go off in some direction (the wrong way) the main tribe would rather avoid. If you're going to get lost, better to do it together. Tribes that didn't have this form of communication may have had discord, some arguing, and loss of efficiency. Their competitors, who did communicate this way, may have gotten a slight advantage.

I can imagine that the leader of an ancient tribe might have felt that it was time for everyone to hit the hay. If there was no hay to be found, perhaps he meant it was time to sprawl out on some rocks warmed by the fire, or a mat of pine boughs. So he yawned. Everyone else in the tribe yawned back, letting the leader know that they got the message: Time to put down the net weaving and sleep. Thousands of years after the last ice age, a yawn still sends the signal. Dogs yawn; we yawn. Dog packs sleep at the same time. So do humans in middle management meetings and lecture halls around the world. In those situations, perhaps our bodies are indicating that our time would be better spent resting rather than reviewing charts or chalkboard

Answer 2

A yawn is a gesture of contentment. It does not mean that you are borred. It's contagious because the glands in the jaw are sensitive and then when you see somone yawning the nerves in those glands react to what you are seeing. This is all ok. So the next time you are with someone who is yawning...remember, they are just being content with you or the situation around them.

Answer 3

www.world-science.net/exclusives/050309_yawnfrm.htm
www.yesmag.bc.ca/Questions/yawn.html

There is no real answer at this time. That question has baffled scientist. They are doing a brain study on people to find out why. Read these 2 sites. They are very interesting. (Youll yawn while reading it to).
After some studying they found it is not only contagious in humans but in chimps to!

Answer 4

A yawn is contagious because people have empathy. The more empathetic you are towards other people's feelings the more likely you will yawn when they do.

Answer 5

your spelling is perfect! I don't know why , but it is just another way we are all so much alike. And I believe the yawn IS the one thing most of all that we do, that makes others follow!

Answer 6

the reason we yawn is because our respiration slows causing a lack of oxygen and so we yawn to soak up a deep breath, this is why we yawn when we are drained-our respiration slows down. And when we see somebody else yawn our respiration slows down really back so we yawn :)

Answer 7

You can join my club. I can't spell either.
Yes I yawn when I see someone yawn. It's odd how that happens.

Answer 8

i heard that you release a sort of gas and thats what makes it contagious but that doesn't explaing when someone gets it over the phone though?!

Answer 9

I don't know but when I read your question I started yawning. lol

Answer 10

I don't know.... I kind of figured it was one spirit going from one body to another - The more educated guess would have something to do with psychology.