EMOTIONAL CONTANGION (Infectious)

Emotional contagion, first characterized by Elaine Hatfield, describes how people who observe the emotions and behaviors of another tend to copy those emotions and behaviors. For instance, when someone smiles happily around others, those around them are more likely to smile and feel happy. Emotional contagion can spread through facial expressions, vocal tone, and posture. Emotional contagion can arise from interactions between people and between people and non-humans. Similarly, not everyone is affected by emotional contagion; some people depending on their ability are able  to “catch” and transmit emotions much more frequently than others.