Ivan Norscia

Ivan Norscia

Ivan Norscia appears on this site as first author of the 2011 PLoS ONE study of yawn contagion among adults, based on a year of observation.

Who they are

The work of Ivan Norscia reaches this site through the paper listed below. On this site the name is tied to Contagious Yawning, Empathy.

Key papers

Norscia, I., & Palagi, E. (2011). Yawn contagion and empathy in Homo sapiens. PLoS ONE. What it reports: A year of observing adults found that social bond was the only factor that predicted yawn contagion: it was strongest between relatives, then friends, then acquaintances, then strangers.

Key ideas

Contagious Yawning: The tendency to yawn after seeing, or reading about, another person's yawn, strongest among people who are close.

Empathy: Sharing in or caring about another person's state; here, the concern observers feel on seeing tears.

Sources

  1. Norscia, I., & Palagi, E. (2011). Yawn contagion and empathy in Homo sapiens. PLoS ONE.