Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Austria.
Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, USA.
Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2017 Sep;80:573-585. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.07.006. Epub 2017 Jul 20.
Various studies and researchers have proposed a link between contagious yawning and empathy, yet the conceptual basis for the proposed connection is not clear and deserves critical evaluation. Therefore, we systematically examined the available empirical evidence addressing this association; i.e., a critical review of studies on inter-individual differences in contagion and self-reported values of empathy, differences in contagion based on familiarity or sex, and differences in contagion among individuals with psychological disorders, as well as developmental research, and brain imaging and neurophysiological studies. In doing so, we reveal a pattern of inconsistent and inconclusive evidence regarding the connection between contagious yawning and empathy. Furthermore, we identify study limitations and confounding variables, such as visual attention and social inhibition. Future research examining links between contagious yawning and empathy requires more rigorous investigation involving objective measurements to explicitly test for this connection.
许多研究和研究人员提出传染性哈欠与同理心之间存在联系，但提出这种联系的概念基础尚不清楚，值得批判性评估。因此，我们系统地检查了现有关于这种关联的实证证据；即对个体间传染性差异和自我报告的同理心价值观、基于熟悉度或性别的传染性差异、以及心理障碍个体之间的传染性差异的研究进行了批判性回顾，以及发展研究，以及脑成像和神经生理学研究。这样，我们揭示了关于传染性哈欠和同理心之间联系的不一致和不确定证据的模式。此外，我们确定了研究局限性和混杂变量，例如视觉注意和社会抑制。未来研究需要更严格的调查，涉及客观测量，以明确测试这种联系。
