#emotional-contagion

#emotional-contagion

Polyvagal theory, introduced in 1994 by psychologist Stephen Porges, highlights the role of the autonomic nervous system in regulating our health and behavior. Our lived experience of engaging with the world is impacted by external environmental cues, internal physical sensations, and relational experiences (e.g., an impression of connection, safety, and trust between individuals). Neuroception is our body's unconscious surveillance system that shifts us into one of three autonomic states needed to respond to a situation: rest-and-digest (social and safe), fight-or-flight (mobilization), or shutdown/collapse (immobilization).

Bring two or more people together and they will immediately begin to synchronize or fall into rhythm with one another. Not only do we tend to subconsciously mimic one another's movements, postures, facial expressions, and gestures, but recent breakthroughs in technology have revealed we also sync up our heart rates, blood pressure, brain waves, pupil dilation, and hormonal activity. This phenomenon is known as interpersonal synchrony, and it is possibly the most consequential social dynamic most people have never heard of.

Group stress seems to be spreading like a bad cold. People seem on edge. Tempers are shorter. There's more honking at the green light. Conversations often turn to resigned regret about the division in the country. And the other day, someone I hadn't seen in 35 years left a surprisingly snarky comment on a social media post, an act out of character for the person I once knew.

On the surface, the following seems ironic in the Information Age. So many people these days grasp simplistic beliefs about complex issues and then double down on those beliefs in the face of contrary evidence. This isn't surprising at all from a psychological perspective. Rather, it's a result of too much information and too little time. Under stress, we typically adopt more rigid perspectives.

You've had a long, stressful morning. But before you step into that meeting, you pause for just a minute and a half. By the time you open the door, you're calmer, lighter, and surprisingly, you're already changing the atmosphere inside. Sometimes we carry the weight of our moods into rooms, whether at home or work. This makes emotional self-regulation especially important in leadership, caregiving, and social settings.