We’ve all been there: You’re in class, in a meeting, or sitting in traffic when a yawn hits. You might automatically assume that when you yawn, it means you’re tired and ready for a mid-day nap. But that’s not necessarily the case. According to a 2014 study from Duke University, there are different types of yawns. “Spontaneous yawning” occurs when you’re tired or bored, while “contagious yawning” occurs when you hear, see, or think about yawning. The study examined the phenomenon of contagious yawning, Psychology Today reports. If you’ve ever experienced contagious yawning, you might be wondering: Why do you yawn when someone else yawns?
Once you start yawning, you might find it difficult to stop. Even just reading and writing about yawning is making me yawn non-stop. I’ve yawned approximately 500% more in the last few minutes than I normally do — just seeing the word “yawn” is making me do it. But why? What causes contagious yawning?
“While previous studies have suggested a connection between contagious yawning and empathy, new research from the Duke Center for Human Genome Variation finds that contagious yawning may decrease with age and is not strongly related to variables like empathy, tiredness, and energy levels,” the report reads.
Say what?! Yep — it turns out, contagious yawning might have nothing to do with tiredness.
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So, we’re still wondering: Why do you yawn when someone else yawns?
Participants in the study watched a three-minute video of people yawning, keeping track of how many times they yawned as they watched. And researchers determined that some people are more likely to experience contagious yawning than others. Factors like intelligence and time of day did not influence contagious yawning. The only factor that influenced it was age. But still, even age wasn’t that significant.
“Age was the most important predictor of contagious yawning, and even age was not that important,” study author Elizabeth Cirulli explained. “The vast majority of variation in the contagious yawning response was just not explained.”
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So, we’re still wondering: Why do you yawn when someone else yawns?
The jury on contagious yawning is still out. Researchers at the Duke Center for Human Genome Variation updated the study in January 2016 and are hoping to determine if any genetic influences contribute to contagious yawning. Until we know more, you’ll just have to deal with “catching” yawns from others 24/7.
