Crowding,contagion, and laughter

The phenomenon of contagion is analysed in terms of the intensification explanation of the effect of crowding (high density) on humans. According to the analysis, high density should be expected to increase contagion of a model's behavior. Groups of three subjects and a confederate listen to humorous tapes under low or high density conditions. In half of the groups the confederate smiles and laughs a good deal during the tapes; in the other half, she does not laugh and smiles only a few times. The subjects are filmed and their reactions to the tapes are rated. As predicted, high density combined with a laughing model results in more laughter by the subjects, while the other three conditions do not differ appreciably. The lack of effect of high density when the model does not laugh is seen as supporting the intensification explanation of crowding as opposed to an arousal explanation.     

目标感染研究述评

目标感染是动机领域新近出现的一个概念（Aarts等,2004）,所谓目标感染指的是个体可以自动的从他人行为信息中推测其目标并无意识的追求这一目标。目标感染在激活对象、复杂程度等方面不同于单纯的行为模仿,在行为性质、意识水平等方面又区别于观察学习。目标状态可及性、目标情感效价等因素会影响目标感染现象的发生。已有研究中通常采用目标相关词汇、社会信息两种方式进行目标的激活。作为对有意识目标追求的补充,目标感染的研究促进了我们对个体行为的理解。未来研究尚可就观察者特征、目标熟悉程度、被观察者数量等因素对目标感染的影响开展进一步的探讨。     

Modeling contagion in policy systems

Scholars of the policy process offer compelling explanations for patterns in the aggregate-level attention of policymakers. Yet, we have little systematic understanding of the day-to-day behavior of these individuals. Why does a given policymaker, on a given day, decide to focus on one pressing issue while ignoring many others? I approach this question from a cognitive systems perspective and argue that policymakers are highly interdependent actors who are subject to cognitive limits and have incentives to closely monitor the political environment. These tendencies contribute to the emergence of widespread herd behavior in their individual attention to policy issues, a phenomenon I conceptualize as ‘issue contagion.’ I then utilize the methods of computational social science to build an agent-based simulation model of policymakers’ issue attention over time. I also outline three empirical expectations regarding the density of communication ties between actors, the presence of segmented groups (e.g. political parties and coalitions), and the rate at which actors take cues from one another. Through a series of sensitivity tests, I document the internal validity of the model and show that incremental changes in network density, segmentation, and cue-taking all generate clear and visible trends in the frequency of issue contagion events.     

Transformational Leadership and Job Involvement: The Moderation of Emotional Contagion

This study examined the moderating effects of emotional contagion, including leaders' emotional contagion and subordinates' emotional susceptibility, on the relationship between transformational leadership and subordinates' job involvement. By investigating 210 soldiers from eight companies of the Taiwan Army, a three-way interaction effect was found. For leaders with high emotional contagion, the positive relationship between transformational leadership and subordinates' job involvement was stronger for subordinates' with high (versus low) susceptibility. For leaders with low emotional contagion, no such interaction was found. We discuss the implications of these findings for future research in this area.     

Contagious leaders and followers: Exploring multi-stage mood contagion in a leader activation and member propagation (LAMP) model

A theoretical framework is offered to explain mood contagion processes in groups. Specifically, we describe and test a two-stage leader activation and member propagation (LAMP) model that starts with the activation of the contagion process by leaders (Stage 1), followed by the mutual propagation of the mood among members (Stage 2). Results from 102 self-managing groups provide support for the LAMP model. Group mood convergence was negatively related to attribute diversity (in extroversion and neuroticism) between the leader and group members (Stage 1) and among group members (Stage 2). In both stages, group members’ susceptibility to emotional contagion and interpersonal attraction had positive main effects on group mood convergence, and moderated the relationship between attribute diversity and mood convergence in groups. The findings offer new insights into group mood convergence, as it unfolds over time.     

学生的首因效应对教师情绪感染力的影响：情绪真实性判断的中介作用

首因效应可能通过对他人情绪真实性判断的影响间接作用于情绪感染的效果。研究采用两因素混合设计。首先向两组被试散布有关教师的“正面信息”或“负面信息”,然后通过观看该教师的朗诵视频来测量教师的情绪感染力以及教师的情绪真实性。所不同的是在实验组与对照组中使用了不同的信息散布方式,实验组采用情境引导,对照组采用抽签引导。研究结果表明,实验组成功建立了关于教师的第一印象,并对情绪真实性判断和情绪感染产生影响,出现首因效应。而对照组未成功建立第一印象,因此没有出现情绪感染的首因效应。路径分析表明,首因效应通过情绪真实性判断对情绪感染产生完全中介效应。     

The contagious leader: impact of the leader's mood on the mood of group members, group affective tone, and group processes

The present study examined the effects of leaders' mood on (a) the mood of individual group members, (b) the affective tone of groups, and (c) 3 group processes: coordination, effort expenditure, and task strategy. On the basis of a mood contagion model, the authors found that when leaders were in a positive mood, in comparison to a negative mood, (a) individual group members experienced more positive and less negative mood, and (b) groups had a more positive and a less negative affective tone. The authors also found that groups with leaders in a positive mood exhibited more coordination and expended less effort than did groups with leaders in a negative mood. Applied implications of the results are discussed.     

EMOTIONAL CONTAGION Gender and Occupational Differences

Theorists have proposed that men and women and those in various occupational groups should differ in their susceptibility to primitive emotional contagion. Study 1 was designed to explore the extent to which gender and occupation affected respondents' self-reports of emotional contagion, as measured by the Emotional Contagion (EC) scale. As predicted, women in a variety of occupations secured higher total EC scores than did men. Study 2 was designed to determine the extent to which gender affected self-reports of emotional contagion (again as measured by the EC scale) and actual responsiveness to others' emotions. As predicted, women received higher EC scores, reported sharing the targets' emotions to a greater extent, and were rated by judges as displaying more emotional contagion than did men.     

The influence of social groups on goal contagion

Goal contagion is the automatic adoption of a goal upon perceiving another’s goal-directed behavior (Aarts, H., Gollwitzer, P. M., & Hassin, R. R. (2004). Goal contagion: Perceiving is for pursuing. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(1), 23-37). This paper tests the hypothesis that goal contagion is more likely between people who belong to the same groups. Because past work on goal contagion has required participants to read about the behavior of others, we also test whether goals are caught when one sees rather than reads about another’s motivated behavior. Across three studies, this ecologically valid methodology reliably produced goal contagion, and this effect was more likely to emerge when participants shared a group membership with those they observed. In Study 1, participants were more likely to take on the goal of individuals who belonged to their same university. Study 2 demonstrated that this effect occurred even when participants were not explicitly focused on the group membership of others. A final study verified that our effects were motivational by demonstrating that failing at a goal relevant task increased negative affect, but only for those who viewed the motivated behavior of someone from their own group.     

Asymmetric goal contagion: Social power attenuates goal contagion among strangers

Goal contagion is an important interpersonal process. As people spontaneously infer and adopt others' goals, goals can be said to “flow” among individuals. We find that possessing power attenuates goal contagion, especially for high perspective takers. In a pilot study (N = 157), we first affirmed the interpersonal nature of goal contagion by establishing that high (vs. low) perspective takers were more likely to engage in goal contagion. We then tested the moderating role of power in two studies. In both neutral (Study 1, N = 179) and low power (Study 2, N = 304) conditions, we replicated the pattern in the pilot study. In the high power conditions, however, neither low nor high perspective takers engaged in goal contagion. Our findings suggest that goals flow asymmetrically from the powerful to the powerless, which may constitute an important means through which power hierarchy and group cohesion are maintained.     

Like Mike: Ability contagion through touched objects increases confidence and improves performance

Magical thinking refers to irrational peculiar beliefs, including those that conform to the laws of contagion. We propose that touching an object that was previously touched by a high performer increases confidence via magical thinking (ability contagion) and improves actual performance among individuals high in experiential processing. A series of studies provides support for this main proposition. Our results cast doubt on an alternative explanation based on priming, and are obtained controlling for participants’ level of rational processing, motivation, and affect.     

交感思维：表现、形成机理及其弱化

交感思维是人类一种基础的、直觉的思维方式, 主要基于“交感”的认知模式, 遵循相似律和触染律两个法则。相似律认为果必同因、相似相生, 表面相似的事物共享一些基本特质; 触染律认为事物“本质”可以在物体接触时传递, 事物在脱离接触后仍可以继续发生相互作用。触染效应可以是正面的, 也可以是负面的。交感效应已经在食物厌恶、消费者购物等行为中得到验证。今后研究应拓展交感思维的应用领域, 提出更有效的弱化和抑制方法, 并从意识、记忆、知觉、认知等信息加工层面对其进行深入探讨。     

先入观念对情绪感染力的调节——以教学活动为例

从以往意识性情绪感染的研究中可以推断出, 情绪感染可以被后继的“观念”所调节, 这种观念可以被无意识提取, 那么情绪感染能不能被“先入观念”所调节呢, 即观念先于情绪感染而存在并对情绪感染的最终效果产生影响。实验情境以教学活动为例, 采用被试内设计, 通过实验前的指导语引导学生树立两种教师评价--“权威”教师(积极的先入观念)和“新手”教师(消极的先入观念), 然后给学生播放两位教师的三类教学视频--中性情绪、积极情绪、消极情绪的朗诵视频, 使用BioNeuro八通道生物反馈仪记录学生在观看视频时的生理指标, 每段视频播放后, 要求学生完成《教师课堂情绪感染力评价问卷(学生用)》。实验结果表明, 学生在观看“权威”教师视频时, 其注意力水平不受教师情绪效价的影响, 学生对“权威”教师均能保持较高的“专注”状态, 从而提高了“权威”教师的积极情绪感染力(易感性调节), 而对“新手”教师的“专注”程度较低, 从而削弱了“新手”教师的积极情绪感染力(免疫性调节)。“新手”教师的消极情绪感染力(倦怠)比“权威”教师的消极情绪感染力更强, 这与学生对“权威”教师的消极情绪进行“合理化”解释有关, 从而免疫了“权威”教师的消极情绪感染力。问卷调查结果也表明, 学生对“权威”教师的情绪感染力评价(无论是中性、积极或消极视频)要极其显著好于对“新手”教师的评价。由此说明, 先入观念对情绪感染的调节方式有两种：“专注”和“合理化”, 调节的结果也有两种：“易感性”与“免疫性”。     

不道德传染的心理机制及其影响

不道德传染, 是指道德违法者作为传染源将消极道德品质直接传递给传染对象, 或先传递给道德中性物品, 再由此物品传递给受传染对象, 引起其情绪、认知、生理等方面变化的过程。本文主要讨论了不道德传染发生的心理机制——厌恶, 围绕不道德传染对道德心理领域(道德情绪以及道德认知过程)产生的影响进行梳理; 进而将视角拓宽到非道德层面, 如具身认知、组织管理以及人际互动, 探究其对人类社会的广泛影响。最后, 从不同文化视阈、不同个体差异、传染过程的动态神经机制及正向道德传染等方面为研究提供新的思路。     

服务消费中多次情绪感染对消费者负面情绪的 动态影响机制

在深入剖析情绪感染心理机制的基础上,深入研究了在服务消费中多次情绪感染对消费者负面情绪的动态影响。作者采用实验法,使用真实情景录像作为刺激物,验证了在服务消费中,正向情绪感染和负向情绪感染都是真实存在的,并且服务人员的情绪、语言和行为都会对消费者负面情绪产生持续的动态影响,同时证实了情绪感染敏感度对情绪感染过程产生明显的调节作用。     

集体仪式促进群体情绪感染的机制

近年来, 诸多学者将研究视角投向群体情绪感染, 即群体内部成员间的情绪感染交互过程。群体情绪感染不仅包括个体间的直接情绪感染, 而且受到群体认同、共同行为以及集体规则等多方面因素的影响。基于集体仪式的过程框架, 分析集体仪式的三要素即同步动作、共享注意和共享意义与群体情绪感染的关系, 能更清楚阐述群体情绪感染的发生与增强过程：集体仪式通过自我定型和自我锚定增强群体认同, 在认同基础上的身份融合促进个体关注群体身份, 导致个体的自我表征发生转化, 社会自我的突出使其更容易接受群体的观点和情感表达, 最终增强了群体情绪感染。未来研究应进一步考察群体情绪感染的影响因素并丰富其测量方法。     

Burnout Contagion Processes Among Teachers1

This study of 154 Dutch high school teachers examined processes by which occupational burnout may transfer from one person to another. Two conditions that may increase the probability of burnout contagion were investigated; namely, individual teachers' susceptibility to emotional contagion, and the frequency with which teachers are exposed to colleagues with student‐ and work‐related problems. Consistent with hypotheses derived from theories about emotional contagion, the results suggest that bumout contagion was most pronounced under these 2 high‐risk conditions. Specifically, the prevalence of perceived burnout among participants' colleagues was most strongly related to individual teachers' burnout (i. e., emotional exhaustion and depersonalization), when the teachers were highly susceptible to the emotions of others and when they frequently communicated with each other about work‐related problems.     

Contagious yawning in domestic dog puppies (Canis lupus familiaris): the effect of ontogeny and emotional closeness on low-level imitation in dogs

Contagious yawning is a well-documented phenomenon in humans and has recently attracted much attention from developmental and comparative sciences. The function, development and underlying mechanisms of the phenomenon, however, remain largely unclear. Contagious yawning has been demonstrated in dogs and several non-human primate species, and theoretically and empirically associated with empathy in humans and non-human primates. Evidence of emotional closeness modulating contagious yawning in dogs has, nonetheless, been contradictory. Humans show a developmental increase in susceptibility to yawn contagion, with typically developing children displaying a substantial increase at the age of four, when a number of cognitive abilities (e.g. accurate identification of others’ emotions) begin to clearly manifest. Explicit tests of yawn contagion in non-human animals have, however, thus far only involved adult individuals. Here, we report a study of the ontogeny of domestic dogs’ (Canis lupus familiaris) susceptibility to yawn contagion, and whether emotional closeness to the yawning model affects this. Thirty-five dogs, aged 4–14 months, observed a familiar and unfamiliar human repeatedly yawn or gape. The dogs yawned contagiously, but emotional closeness with the model did not affect the strength of contagion, raising questions as to recent evidence of emotionally modulated auditory contagious yawning in dogs. The dogs showed a developmental effect, with only dogs above 7 months evidencing contagion. The results support the notion of a developmental increase in dogs’ attention to others and identification of others’ emotional states and suggest that yawn contagion is underpinned by developmental processes shared by humans and other animals.     

Interpersonal influences on goals: Current and future directions for goal contagion research

A growing body of research documents goal contagion, a phenomenon whereby people are likely to catch—to adopt and pursue for themselves—the goals they see others pursuing. Here, I situate goal contagion relative to other ideas about where goals come from and then review existing scholarship on the phenomenon itself and the processes that underlie it. I then point to four larger questions that goal contagion researchers must answer in the years to come. The first two of these questions (what levels of the self‐regulatory hierarchy are subject to contagion and what role goal contagion affords for consciousness and intention) delve deeper into the process of the phenomenon, while the second two (how goal contagion affects social relationships and how it plays into goal pursuit more broadly) highlight how researchers have largely ignored the question of how goal contagion might influence people's broader lives.     

Explorations in the social contagion of memory

Four experiments examined social influence on the development of false memories. We employed the social contagion paradigm: A subject and a confederate see scenes and then later take turns recalling items from the scenes, with the confederate erroneously reporting some items that were not present in the scenes; on a final test, the subject reports these suggested items when instructed to recall only items from the scenes. The first two experiments showed that the social contagion effect persisted when subjects were explicitly warned about the possibility that confederates' responses might induce false memories and when they were tested via source-monitoring tests that explicitly gave the choice of attributing suggested items to the other person. Levels of false recall and recognition increased with the number of times the misleading information was suggested (Experiment 3), and subjects were more likely to incorporate the erroneous responses of an actual confederate on a recognition/source test as compared with those of a simulated confederate (Experiment 4). Collectively, the data support the claim that false memories may be transmitted between people and reveal critical factors that modulate the social contagion of memories.