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Monkey see, monkey feel
What to do when other people’s emotions affect you
How other people’s emotions affect us
I first heard of the concept of emotional contagions in Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents by Lindsay C. Gibson. As you might have guessed, this phenomenon speaks to the contagious quality of emotions, which isn’t necessarily a novel concept. Unless you lack empathy, you’ll likely feel at least a pang of sadness if you see a loved one crying or crack a smile if they break down in uncontrollable laughter.
Humans are social creatures, and the ability to affect others with our own affect promotes bonding — once upon a time, this bonding meant the difference between life and death. But because the struggles of modern life tend to be vastly different than those of our neolithic predecessors, our responses to other people’s emotion aren’t always adaptive.
I’m sure you’ve had experiences where your day was ruined because some angry, asshole driver cut you off or a miserable boss berated you in front of your coworkers. It’s hard not to let these kinds of things affect you.
Why other people’s emotions affect us
In a recent article, I explored the idea that children of emotionally immature parents learn…
