Mind & behavior · 2014
Are some people consistently more likely than others to catch a yawn?
Yes. In a study of 328 healthy participants shown a three-minute yawning video, people differed in how readily they caught a yawn, and their responses were highly stable across testing sessions. Older participants were less likely to yawn, but age explained only 8% of the variation, leaving most differences unexplained.
Details
Researchers used a yawning video, cognitive tests and questionnaires to investigate why some people yawn in response to others while some do not. Individual responses were highly stable across repeated testing, both in the laboratory and remotely online. Most participants who did not yawn also reported no urge to yawn, suggesting they were not simply holding it back.
After accounting for age, the researchers found no evidence that empathy, time of day or intelligence influenced the response. Older age was associated with a lower likelihood of catching a yawn, even when the analysis was limited to participants younger than 40. Yet age explained only a small part of the differences. The study did not establish what causes most of this variation or whether it is inherited; the authors proposed inheritance as a subject for future research.
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