why is yarning contagious?!
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The reasons for this are unclear; however, recent research suggests that yawning might be a herd instinct.
Herd Instinct
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The so-called herding instinct is a social tendency in humans to identify with and model many behaviors and beliefs after a larger group of individuals with whom they identify. This is sometimes referred to as "following the herd." Such people are sometimes labelled with the derogatory term "sheeple."
Since the herding instinct includes both behavior and belief, the term 'herd behavior' describes only a part of this complex phenomenon in humans.
Other Answers:
Actualy it isn´t. Try to yarn and I bet that I wont yarn after you.:)
Yarning or yawning? Yarning, I guess, is telling yarns.(or stories) And, no, I don't believe it's contagious. Yawning, on the other hand, is contagious. But, nobody knows why. And nobody knows why human beings yawn in the first place, either.
If you go to this link -
http://www.yesmag.bc.ca/Questions/yawn.html
you can read more about it.
its kinda ridiculous. it cant have anything to do with physical conditions, because its contagious even over the phone.
So psychological is the way to go.
http://www.yesmag.bc.ca/Questions/yawn.html
The simple answer is that scientists aren't really sure yet. They do know that it is contagious in animals as well. One theory was that we release carbon dioxide when yawning, but that was proved as wrong.
Yawning is built in. From the far past when humans traveled in groups, yawing was a way to let others know when it was time to rest or act. It is also a tool for bonding and adapting within the group, a unified action. Yawning is a psychological response that can be controlled by stimulating triggers, thank our psychologists for that. :P My wolves yawn when they are tired, hungry, or feel threatened. It is a very basic movement.
You could say the ability to yawn when another yawns is just a way to communicate a message to the group and have that signal passed on.
The link between oxygen and yawning has been by far disproved.
Check out the websites, there are many others as well, just search.
Source(s):
http://www.lancs.ac.uk/ug/shawr/
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/biology/b103/f03/web2/afritz.html
http://www.ratlab.co.uk/yawn.htm
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/12/07/nyawn07.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/12/07/ixhome.html
there are two theories one says that people see you yawn and then it triggers their brains to yawn also,the other theory is that when a person yawns it changes the balance of the oxygen in the room, so you yawn also
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