Apparently Doing This in Public is Just as Contagious as Yawning

I think one of life's funniest phenomenons is the fact that yawns are undeniably contagious.

I have NO idea why. But, that's what the internet is for!

I'll never forget when I was in elementary school and we all got to the age where we realized just how contagious they are. My entire class turned it into a game. One person would yawn and look around for the first part of the chain, and from there it was just an entire classroom causing each other to yawn.

I'll find my dog yawning sometimes and it will make me yawn. It's just the most hilarious thing. A new study found something that's just as contagious as yawning. Newscientist details -

When a person looks at their mobile phone, around half the people nearby will start checking their phones within 30 seconds.

I'm very guilty of this. No matter how hard I try to not be on my phone around people, it's just a mindless instinct at this point. My brain is like, "Oh, right, I have a phone too, I should probably check it".

So why is it so contagious? According to Newscientist -

Such a rapid, automatic response is probably due to people mimicking each other without realising it – what scientists call the “chameleon effect”. While such mimicry is thought to have evolved in human societies to help people bond with each other, mimicking mobile phone use might have the opposite effect, says Elisabetta Palagi at the University of Pisa, Italy.

Try and take notice next time you're out with friends. It's a pretty funny phenomenon to observe.

H/T NEWSCIENTIST