Emotional Contagion

Emotions spread between individuals. When one person communicates an emotion, it can impact others who come into contact with that feeling, “infecting” them with the same emotion. Emotion contagion is an interpersonal process demonstrating the power of emotion displays and the social influence of emotion. This chapter will define emotion contagion, discuss the catalyst or displayer of emotion that starts the process of the contagion, and review the mechanisms behind the emotion contagion process, as well as the consequences of the linkage of emotion and its spread on dyads and teams. The chapter will review classical work on the topic as well as current work. It is clear that all displays of emotion, whether using non-verbal cues or textual and digital means can spread to others. It is crucial to understand that the outcome of emotion contagion is not just emotional “infection” but also involves downstream social consequences.