Emotional contagion. Studies in emotion and social interaction.

Abstract

The focus in this text is on rudimentary or primitive emotional contagion—that which is relatively automatic, unintentional, uncontrollable, and largely inaccessible to conversant awareness. This is defined as the tendency to automatically mimic and synchronize facial expressions, vocalizations, postures, and movements with those of another person, and consequently, to converge emotionally. Emotional contagion may well be important in personal relationships: It fosters behavioral synchrony and the tracking of the feelings of others moment to moment, even when individuals are not explicitly attending to this information.