Are You Immune to Contagious Yawning? Study Says You Could be a Psychopath!

There is a new way to discover whether a person is a psychopath. New study suggested that an individual who is immune to contagious yawning may be a psychopath.

A new study published on Science Direct showed that psychopaths, or individuals who are described as having abnormal social behavior and lack of empathy, may not yawn back even when all others are. The findings will also be published in the November 2015 edition of the journal Personality and Individual Differences.

Psychologists from Baylor University in Texas presented that individuals who are apathetic are likely to be immune to contagious yawning. Most people will generally yawn when they are with someone who yawns or presents signs of tiredness. Contagious yawning is a sign of empathy and a way to bond socially. Animals like dogs and chimpanzees also show contagious yawning behavior. The Times wrote that in different degrees, many people can be induced to yawn just by thinking about yawning or seeing others yawn.

The study involved 135 participants who filled out a questionnaire called the Psychopathic Personality Inventory. It included a set of questions used to diagnoses psychopathy by pointing out personality characteristics like Machiavellianism, egocentricity, coldheartedness, impulsivity and callousness. The students were also asked to watch videos of people making various facial movements, including yawning. As the researchers speculated, the participants who had more psychopathic qualities were less prone to yawning when they viewed the video of people yawning.

"Psychopaths are partly defined by lack of empathy and compassionate understanding of the feelings of others. The fact that they aren't able to contagious yawn suggests that the mechanics involved in the empathy process aren't functioning normally," Brian Rundle, a doctoral researcher at Baylor University and part of the research team, told the Huffington Post.

Rundle said that psychopaths are defined by their lack of compassion and empathy towards the feelings of other people. The fact that some people are not able to contagious yawn may indicate that the processes involved in empathy are not functioning normally. People should also avoid jumping into conclusions that those who do not yawn back are psychopaths. The findings will show neuroscientists a bigger picture of the mechanisms involved in independent yawning and psychopathy and their relationship to each other.

For animals, Rundle said that there is evidence that among chimpanzees, dogs and baboons, the alpha male usually yawns first, which would cue others on how to respond. This means that being immune to contagious yawning should not immediately be equated to being a psychopath, based on the same The Times report.