Why do I yawn after other people do?

Answer 1

Damn you, you made me yawn just by reading your question!

Answer 2

hmmm, it's because everybody yawns - from unborn babies to the oldest great-grandparent. Animals do it, too. But why, exactly, do people and animals yawn? No one knows for sure. But there are many theories (ideas) about why people yawn.

One is that when we are bored or tired, we just don't breathe as deeply as we usually do.

But there is one idea about yawning that everyone knows to be true. It seems contagious. If you yawn in class, you'll probably notice a few other people will start yawning, too. Even thinking about yawning can get you yawning. How many times have you yawned while reading this article? We hope not many!

Answer 3

Everyone yawns - babies, kids, teenagers, adults. Some birds, reptiles and most mammals also yawn. However, the reason why we yawn is a bit of a mystery. There is also very little research about yawning because for most people yawning is not a problem. Here are a few things that are known about yawns:

The average duration of a yawn is about 6 seconds.
In humans, the earliest occurrence of a yawn happens at about 11 weeks after conception - that's BEFORE the baby is born!
Yawns become contagious to people between the first and second years of life.
A part of the brain that plays an important role in yawning is the hypothalamus. Research has shown that some neurotransmitters (for example, dopamine, excitatory amino acids, nitric oxide) and neuropeptides increase yawning if injected into the hypothalamus of animals.

You know that when you are bored, you yawn. Scientists have confirmed this observation by comparing the number of yawns in 17-19 year old students who watched music videos to the number of yawns in students who watched an uninteresting color test bar pattern.

As you might have expected, people who watched the color test bar pattern yawned more (5.78 yawns in 30 minutes) than those who watched the "MTV-like" video (3.41 yawns in 30 minutes.) The average duration of yawns was also slightly longer in the test bar viewing group. One unexpected finding was that yawns in male students had a longer duration than those in female students.


Many people assume that we yawn because our bodies are trying to get rid of extra carbon dioxide and to take in more oxygen. This may make some sense. According to this theory, when people are bored or tired, they breathe more slowly. As breathing slows down, less oxygen makes it to the lungs. As carbon dioxide builds up in the blood, a message to the brain results in signals back to the lungs saying, "Take a deep breath," and a yawn is produced.

The only problem with the excess carbon dioxide theory is that research shows that it may not be true. In 1987, Dr. Robert Provine and his coworkers set up an experiment to test the theory that high carbon dioxide/low oxygen blood content causes yawning. Air is normally made up of 20.95% oxygen, 79.02% nitrogen), 0.03% carbon dioxide and a few other gases in low concentrations. The researchers gave college students the following gases to breathe for 30 minutes:

Gas #1 = 100% Oxygen

Gas #2 = 3% Carbon dioxide, 21% Oxygen

Gas #3 = 5% Carbon dioxide, 21% Oxygen

Gas #4 = Normal Air

Breathing 100% oxygen (Gas #1) or either carbon dioxide gas (Gas #2 and #3) did cause the students to breathe at a faster rate. However, neither carbon dixoide gas nor 100% oxygen caused the students to yawn more. These gases also did not change the duration of yawns when they occurred.

The researchers also looked for a relationship between breathing and yawning by having people exercise. Exercise, obviously, causes people to breathe faster. However, the number of yawns during exercise was not different from the number of yawns before or after exercise. Therefore, it appears that yawning is not due to CO2/O2 levels in the blood and that yawning and breathing are controlled by different mechanisms.


So, the question remains - why do we yawn? Dr. Provine suggests that perhaps yawning is like stretching. Yawning and stretching increase blood pressure and heart rate and also flex muscles and joints. Evidence that yawning and stretching may be related comes from the observation that if you try to stifle or prevent a yawn by clenching your jaws shut, the yawn is somewhat "unsatisfying." For some reason, the stretching of jaw and face muscles is necessary for a good yawn.

It is possible that yawns are contagious because at one time in evolutionary history, the yawn served to coordinate the social behavior of a group of animals. When one member of the group yawned to signal an event, all the other members of the group also yawned. Yawns may still be contagious these days because of a leftover response (a "vestigial" response) that is not used anymore. None of this has been proven true and yawns are still one of the mysteries of the mind.

Answer 4

There are a number of reason that people yawn, one is because that they are tired the other main reason is lack of oxygen in the bloodstream. The body's response to this is to try and top op the level of oxygen; you yawn taking a long and deep breath, lots of air gets into your lungs and into bloodstream.
The reason why others do this is because this is a "safety response" by our body ... others are short of oxygen; we are in the same room, maybe we are short of oxygen too, so our body kicks in the response just to make sure.
We also get into the subconscious habit of it, we learn to do it (I am yawning away now)

Answer 5

I love doing that to people. We did that in school once without telling anyone, we had the whole science class yawning including the teacher.

Answer 6

Because their yawn reminds you of your own tiredness/boredom/ impatience. And you copy them, in their apparently successful attempt to get relief. Ooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaahhyy.

(How do you spell the sound of a yawn?)

Answer 7

You yawn because your brain is focused on the other person that is yawing so you end up doing it like when someone talks and ur talking you write it down

Answer 8

Damn, I've started now, I heard you just have to see the word to yawn, now I know it's true

Answer 9

Yawning is highly contagious i seam to have caught it myself now I'm starting tooooo yaaawwwwnnnn tooooooooooooo

Answer 10

Y A W N .........

I think it's an instinctive biological cue - yawning means there's a shortage of oxygen in your body so ...

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

*Feud falls asleep*