Hatfield, Elaine - Cacioppo, John T. : Emotional contagion

When people are in a certain mood, whether elation or depression, that mood is often communicated to others. Talking to a depressed person we may feel depressed, whereas talking to someone who feels self-confident and buoyant we are likey to feel good about ourselves. This phenomenon, known as emotional contagion, is identified here, and compelling evidence for its effect is offered from a variety of disciplines - social and developmental psychology, history, cross-cultural psychology, experimental psychology, and psychophysiology. The authors propose a simple mechanism to account for the process of contagion. They argue that people, in their everyday encounters, tend automatically and continuosly to synchronize with the facial expressions, voices, postures, movements, and instrumental emotional behaviors of others. Emotional experiences are affected, moment-to-moment, by the activation from such mimicry. In a series of orderly chapters, the authors provide observational and labratory evidence to support their propositions. They then offer practical suggestions for clinical psychologists, physicians, husbands and wives, parents, and professionals who wish to become better at shaping the emotional tone of social encounters.