why is yawing contagious?

Answer 1

Its psychological. Basically our sub conscious recognizes our own "fatigue" when we see someone else yawn. Basically if we don't pick up on our own tiredness our sub conscious will when we see it.

Heres an example of what I am suggesting:
We are watching television and don't feel hungry. A commercial for a fast food restaurant comes on, in this case, Taco Bell. We see the pictures flash across the screen of Tacos with juicy hamburger meat with cheese and a crunchy shell. All of a sudden you start feeling hungry. In fact, you decide to cook tacos for dinner.

Make sense?

Answer 2

No one really knows why yawning is "contagious". Or why we yawn at all.
Here are a few things I have found:
One popular explanation is that yawning allows you to get rid of too much carbon dioxide in your system and increase your oxygen supply. This was disproved by Dr. Robert Provine and his research team in 1987.
Some scientists are wondering if yawning is from our deep past -- part of our evolutionary history. Did a yawn signal to the group that it was time for everyone to retire to the trees and snooze? Did a yawn signal that we were all feeling cozy and warm about each other? Did a yawn signal something else, like a showing of authority (fangs), and the yawn is reciprocated as an answer?

Also something rather interesting:
Between 40 and 60 percent of the population seems to find yawning contagious. Researchers at the State University of New York conducted a series of yawning experiments. They determined that being self-aware (the ability to recognize oneself) and having the ability to see things from someone else's viewpoint means a person is more likely to find yawning contagious.

Now you're thinking, what humans are not self-aware? Schizophrenics sometimes have trouble with self-recognition so they will not find yawning contagious. Babies won't yawn contagiously until they're more than a year old.

Great question!

Answer 3

It's the power of suggestion! The simple truth is that even though humans have been yawning for possibly as long as they have existed, we have no clue as to why we do it. Maybe it serves some healthful purpose. It does cause us to draw in more air and our hearts to race faster than normal, but so does exercise. There's still much we don't understand about our own brains, so maybe yawning is triggered by some area of the brain we have yet to discover. We do know that yawning is not limited to man. Cats, dogs, even fish yawn, which leads us back to the idea that yawning is some form of communication.

Answer 4

I have this theory...

Yawning is what we do when we need to get all the excess carbon dioxide out of our lungs. It is also a mental sign of tiredness (when you think of yawning, you think about how tired you are and you yawn when you're ready to go to sleep). So when someone yawns, our minds starts to think about how tired our body is and thus we yawn too. That's why it seems so contagious.

Answer 5

Yawning is not contagious

Answer 6

There are many theories, but no one has definitively proved the cause. It's most likely psychological, but it appears to be a natural reaction (as opposed to a learned behavior).

Answer 7

When one person sees another yawn, their brain is triggered, and tells them that the situation both people are in, is boring.

So basically, you both are sharing the same boredom.

Answer 8

Do you mean "yawning"?

Answer 9

I completely agree with mommasquarepants...and THANKS for making me hungry for tacos!