Emotional Contagion: A Brief Overview and Future Directions

Abstract

Social interactions can trigger emotional contagion between individuals resulting in behavioral synchrony. Emotional contagion can be a very effective and attractive strategy in communication and advertising, and understanding the mechanisms underlying emotional contagion can help marketers to improve their commercial approaches or develop better ones. The purpose of this study is to review and classify the various methodologies and theoretical approaches on emotional contagion, identify the best practices in this domain, and identify ways of gaging and measuring emotional contagion. The study is based on a mini literature review. We identify different mechanisms and approaches to emotional contagion described in the literature. Emotional contagion can be triggered by facial expressions, indirect human interactions, and/or by observing other people's behavior in direct and indirect interactions. Furthermore, emotional contagion can be triggered physiologically or neurologically by synchronizing with the emotional state of others during human interactions. Regarding the assessment and measurement of emotional contagion, we argue that methods based on neuroscience tools are much more accurate and effective than methods based on traditional research approaches. The study identifies guidelines for research on commercial communication through emotional contagion that can be especially interesting for academia and marketing practitioners. The findings are important for field marketers interested in developing new individualized approaches in their commercial strategies and marketing in general. In addition, the study can become the basis of research that further refines and compares the efficacy of the various techniques and tools involved.

Peer Support and Mental Health of Migrant Domestic Workers: A Scoping Review

“…First, negative emotion could be spread between an individual and a peer, causing a "contagion of emotions". The observation of another person's emotional state would automatically activate the same nervous system response as that of the observer, and awaken affective arousal and contagion [57]. This process might potentially cause harm to others.…”

Hope and Optimism as an Opportunity to Improve the “Positive Mental Health” Demand

“…This increases self-esteem, which in turn leads to higher levels of psychological wellbeing (Allen, 2018) Hang out with hopeful and optimistic people Surrounding ourselves with hopeful and positive people can, by "emotional contagion," lead us feel that way ourselves. Evidence reveals that both positive and negative emotions are "contagious," so we need to choose our social environment and interactions (Herrando and Constantinides, 2021) Practice gratitude Simple gratitude practices-like journaling, self-compliments, or sending thank you notes-can bring sanctity and authentic happiness (Bohlmeijer et al, 2021) and be more effective than self-control, patience, or forgivingness in generating hope for the future…”

Emotional Contagion: Research on the Influencing Factors of Social Media Users' Negative Emotional Communication During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…After much social research by many scholars, emotional contagion has been widely defined as an emotional experience: "People capture and feel emotions from messages transmitted by others and subconsciously imitate and feel them, thus exhibiting similar emotions." The characteristics of emotional contagion are (i) interactivity: emotional contagion must occur in the process of interpersonal communication; (ii) directionality: emotional contagion is directional, and there must be a transmitter and a receiver in the process; (iii) similarity: similarity is an essential characteristic of emotional contagion, the receiver of the emotion will have similar emotional experiences and expressions as the transmitter in the process of emotional infection, and eventually the emotions of both converge (Herrando and Constantinides, 2021).…”