Creatures of Habit

Ever wonder why a yawn is so contagious? Or possibly why we react unintentionally to certain things? Are yawns contagious because we think that they are contagious, or are they actually contagious? Well, yawns are actually contagious! I won’t bore you with science or confusing doctor words, mostly because I have no idea about that side of what makes a yawn contagious, but I do know the sociological side of it! Yawns and other self-soothing techniques are all social aspects of our lives and can tell us a lot about certain situations.

A yawn that you got from someone else is actually your body’s natural way of trying to create social cohesion between everyone (this is at least the sociological explanation). But why? Have you ever been on a walk and someone looked at you and smiled? Naturally, without you even thinking to do it, you smiled back. Why would you smile back? Of course, it is because they smiled at you, and in your mind, it was a positive interaction that made you happy. But what if they were smiling at you because they wanted to murder you? You wouldn’t smile back then. In this situation, you would have had to have thought about why you were smiling. By that point, the person would have been long gone, and you would have never smiled back, and they would have thought you were a weirdo. It is a learned habit and a mimicking of others' interactions, that your body naturally responds with a smile when someone smiles at you. If you saw someone crying, you wouldn’t laugh at them, you would probably feel the same sadness, even though you don’t know why they’re sad, and decide to help them out. Yawns can actually be more contagious if you are closer (as in relationship-wise) to the person. You are more likely to catch a yawn because your best friend yawns than if a total stranger does.

We naturally do other self-soothing actions when we are in uncomfortable or stressful situations. One of these is rubbing the back of our necks when we are stressed. This calms us down, which is why our body does it naturally. Another is protecting vulnerable areas. The main one is putting our hands near our throat because it is a vulnerable area, and it’s comforting to cover that area. Playing with a necklace is the same thing as touching your throat as well. Anything that gets our hands near this area is accomplishing the same thing. Another action that we do is close ourselves off when we are uncomfortable. We do this by crossing our arms in front of us. This sags our shoulders and closes our bodies to everyone else. It is like giving yourself a hug. If you feel yourself doing this, put your hands behind your back and stick out your chest. You will trick yourself into feeling confident because this is a position of confidence.

We mimic others' actions in order to fit in and make ourselves feel like we are a part of the group. This is a form of social order and creates societal rules. The yawn is simply an example of a mimicking behavior our body does that we notice yet have no idea why. But now you know, and next time you do it, you’ll understand why.

April 2025