Contagious yawning in gelada baboons as a possible expression of empathy
Contagious yawning in gelada baboons as a possible expression of empathy
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DOI：
10.1073/pnas.0910891106
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发表时间：
2009-11-17
影响因子：
11.1
通讯作者：
Ferrari, P. F.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Palagi, E.;Leone, A.;Ferrari, P. F.
有人提出，人类的哈欠传染与我们的同理心能力有关。目前尚不清楚这种能力是人类独有的还是其他灵长类动物（尤其是猴子）所共有的。在这里，我们发现，在狒狒狒狒（Theropithecus gelada）中，打哈欠在个体之间具有传染性，尤其是那些社交关系密切的狒狒，即打哈欠的传染性与个体之间的梳理接触水平相关。在控制空间关联的影响后，这种相关性仍然存在。因此，情感上的接近而不是空间上的接近最能预测哈欠的传染。成年女性表现出不同打哈欠类型的精确匹配，这表明存在激活共享表征的镜像机制。本研究还表明，女性对伴侣的敏感性和情绪调节能力更强。这些发现与传染性哈欠揭示个体之间的情感联系的观点是一致的。这种现象在猴子身上得到了证实，它可能成为全面同理心的基础。
Yawn contagion in humans has been proposed to be related to our capacity for empathy. It is presently unclear whether this capacity is uniquely human or shared with other primates, especially monkeys. Here, we show that in gelada baboons (Theropithecus gelada) yawning is contagious between individuals, especially those that are socially close, i.e., the contagiousness of yawning correlated with the level of grooming contact between individuals. This correlation persisted after controlling for the effect of spatial association. Thus, emotional proximity rather than spatial proximity best predicts yawn contagion. Adult females showed precise matching of different yawning types, which suggests a mirroring mechanism that activates shared representations. The present study also suggests that females have an enhanced sensitivity and emotional tuning toward companions. These findings are consistent with the view that contagious yawning reveals an emotional connection between individuals. This phenomenon, here demonstrated in monkeys, could be a building block for full-blown empathy.