Co- yawning refers to the phenomenon that people close to each other can infect each other with their yawning. If one yawns, the other yawns too. According to current research, yawning along is understood as an expression of sympathy.
What is yawning along?
Yawning along refers to the phenomenon that people close to each other can infect each other with their yawning. Some people can be observed to start yawning along with another person in response to the triggering stimulus. Yawning is especially common among people who are close to each other or at least know each other well. Yawning is not a sign of oxygen deficiency, as was assumed for a long time, but is associated with fatigue and can occur in boredom. The exact causes of yawning are still largely unknown, but it is certain that yawning can infect fellow human beings. It is considered very likely that yawning is a sign of empathy and is perceived subconsciously by fellow human beings. Empathic people yawn along even if they do not know their yawning counterpart well. Thus, yawning along does not have the same function for humans as the initial yawn, but rather serves as a subconscious signal of sympathy to a fellow human.
Function and task
Yawning itself can serve a number of functions. Some schools of psychology, for example, assume that it serves a function in processing negative emotions. Other theories assume, for example, that yawning is a method of thermoregulation of the body. It is very likely that yawning fulfills the same functions, but here the group dynamic component is added. Probably the Mitgähnen shows the fellow men subconsciously sympathy. Studies have already been able to show that people who are particularly gifted with empathy even yawn when a person unknown to them yawns. However, yawning has not been observed at all in disorders of empathy, such as psychopathy or other similar personality disorders. Of course, a person does not find his counterpart sympathetic just by yawning along, nor is the effect of yawning along consciously perceived. It concerns subconscious communication and occurs in similar form also in the animal kingdom with kinds, which tend to group behavior. This leads to the assumption that humans and animals also use yawning to build up social structures. In addition, it has been observed, especially in primate societies, that showing the teeth while yawning or yawning along seems to play an important role in the social cohesion of individuals. Yawning along in this way is a reaction to the sight of another primate’s teeth. There does not appear to be a single cause for yawning along, similar to the triggering yawn of a fellow primate. However, it seems to be an evolutionary holdover from the time when humans also hunted in small groups and depended on social cohesion in their community, which needed to be constantly reaffirmed.
Diseases and ailments
Yawning is often understood in Western culture as an expression of boredom, fatigue and disinterest. The fact that yawning along is probably the exact opposite of this has not yet become accepted in social perception, which is why yawning and yawning along are equally concealed or suppressed altogether. Together with other omitted subconscious signals of sympathy, the lack of yawning along can also lead to the subconscious impression of omitted sympathy. The human brain pays attention to subtle signals of body language to interpret whether there is sympathy or not. A lack of yawning has been observed in the presence of mental illnesses such as psychopathy and other so-called “dark” personality traits. Such illnesses turn off a person’s sense of empathy and thus do not allow him or her to feel and express genuine sympathy for fellow human beings. A person, no matter how familiar, could yawn, but in such disorders the person’s fellow yawning remained absent. Similar observations were made with autistic children, they also do not yawn along when videos of yawning people are played to them. In their case, the reason is also that they do not have the same sense of empathy and thus do not emit signals such as yawning along. Very frequent apparent yawning should be carefully observed in conjunction with other symptoms.Multiple yawning is rarely a symptom of diseases such as multiple sclerosis, radiation sickness, migraine (very rare), or occurs during drug withdrawal. Even if it just seems like harmless yawning along, it may indicate a health problem along with other more specific symptoms. Taking some medications can also increase yawning or yawning along, including agents such as serotonin reuptake inhibitors, lidocaine, or benzodiazepines. Overall, however, yawning along is rarely a symptom with disease value and should rather be understood as a harmless, subconscious signal and evolutionary remnant.
