why is yawning contagious?

Answer 1

The yawning cave men answer was good but only 50% right. Supposedly it was a signal to other cavies that you were off to bed and so should they, but on another level it is a group sleep synchronizing tool; it was an alpha male signal that his tribe were to sleep, the same as when he was up, all up ! this primeval mechanism stops half the tribe still being in the land of nod at dinner time and the big boss short on man power.

Answer 2

Well, maybe it is a sort of a herd instinct or a way to synchronize the mood of behavior with fellow human.

A wikipedia excerpt:
"Mythbusters attempted an experiment documenting "Is Yawning Contagious?"
Conclusion partly confirmed: The proximate cause for contagious yawning may lie with mirror neurons, i.e. neurons in the frontal cortex of certain vertebrates, which upon being exposed to a stimulus from conspecific (same species) and occasionally interspecific organisms, activates the same regions in the brain. Mirror neurons have been proposed as a driving force for imitation which lies at the root of much human learning, e.g. language acquisition. Yawning may be an offshoot of the same imitative impulse."

Answer 3

although the caveman answer is valid and often used by scientists to answer the question, it doesn't really apply today. when we yawn amongst ourselves, it's not to respect the alpha male or to signal sleep--we do it at all times of the day. it's also more than just conforming or comforting the group because we don't just respond to a yawn with a yawn because we want to compliment those in our group. we feel that same fatigue we do when we're tired each time.

it simply says we're tired. and as humans, we are always at some point tired, even though we like to think we're not. even in the middle of an energizing activity, that nice, soft, warm bed can seem extremely appealing. when others yawn, it reminds us of how tired we could potentially be. and the thought of rest/sleep is always welcomed by our bodies, regardless of what our minds want. [like sleeping in the middle of a classroom]

Answer 4

Ok, I'm off to bed so this will be quick.

When we lived in caves and spoke in grunts the guy in-charge had a way of telling us when to go to bed and that was by yawning.

We all yawned for the benefit of the guy besides us to know it was bed time and be up early to hunt the dinosaurs.

In those days it was a good idea to keep the noise down, and yawns did that.

Goodnight.

Answer 5

yawning is not contagious it's just lack of oxygen to the brain.

Answer 6

i think its to do with ,when you see some one yawn they are taking in more oxygen then you so your bodies reaction is to yawn to make up for this lost

Answer 7

It comes under Body Language. To be specific it's called unconscious Mirroring of other person's(s') Body Language when we are in a group. That's it.

Answer 8

cause when you yawn other people around you do to

Answer 9

the same reason people flock to the scene of an emergency. group conformity.

Answer 10

Obviously because it's a disease. Good job I'm a Doctor and your not.