Yawning is a way for the human body to reboot the oxygen supply. [3] This suggests that yawning is a “primal instinct” that helps us bond as a community. Anne2. But why do you yawn when you're not sleepy?Despite what you may have heard, yawning has nothing to do with increasing the body's oxygen supply.
66% Upvoted. To understand what’s going on with “contagious” yawning, we need to understand why we yawn, and how it plays into our overall physiology. Now scientists think they have solved the mystery of why yawning is so infectious .

There are many theories as to why people yawn. share. The "contagious" aspect of it maybe a social or a cultural phenomenon. Lv 7. why is yawning so contageous?

Oxygen intake in this manner is primarily used as a means to stay alert. This thread is archived. and need to appropriate a huge gulp of air (oxygen) to ensure sufficinet amount is circulating contained by our blood. 16 Answers. herd instinct, like one wolf will howl and then all the pack howls. Yawning is essentially a reflexive method of increasing oxygen intake. The phenomenon of contagious yawning doesn't mean you need more sleep.

[4] Why do we yawn at the same time? Why We Yawn. Yawning is part of the body's way of changing from a state of activity to inactivity and vice versa. Read the story here Since humans evolved in small groups who did the same things at the same time, it was advantageous when one person saw another person yawning to yawn as well, so that they too were prepared for whatever change in activity the yawn indicated. save hide report. Yawning is contagious. It is a human chain reaction that can set off a roomful of people. Favourite answer. Psychologists think that contagious yawning may be due to an effect called emotional contagion.

This is because yawning may be a product of a quality inherent in social animals: empathy.

best. Relevance. An experiment has found evidence to support that contagious yawning can be a sign of empathy too. But it might signal that you're attuned to the emotions of others.

6 comments. People yawn when they see someone else do it because it triggers something in the brain so you can't help but yawn. Spontaneous yawning is first observed in the womb, while contagious yawning doesn’t begin until early childhood. 1 decade ago. Mimicry is likely at the heart of why yawning is contagious. One popular theory is that yawning helps your body bring in more oxygen. Sort by. Answer Save. 0 0 0. Even for researchers, however, the function of yawning is still somewhat a mystery — and most scientists can only theorize as to why we have the urge to yawn. level 1.

Many theories have instead focussed on the strange, contagious nature of yawning – a fact that I know only too well from my conversation with Provine. Yawning appears to be contagious among humans and other animals, and the contagiousness of a yawn is well documented but hardly understood. Log in to reply to the answers Post; Walk with me in Hell.
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