The enhancement effect of social interaction on emotional contagion: an EEG-Based hyperscanning study

Emotional contagion refers to the tendency for individuals to replicate the emotional states of others primarily, within the context of social interactions. Prior research has focused on the real-time emotional contagion during interpersonal communication. However, this study proposes that social interaction experiences, particularly those involving cooperation, might also play a role in promoting emotional contagion. To investigate this issue, the present study divided participants into the interactive group and the control group and conducted EEG-based hyperscanning to explore the impact of interpersonal interaction experience on emotional contagion. Behavioral results indicated that individuals reported a greater psychological closeness to their partners after experiencing interaction. Additionally, the interactive group showed stronger emotional congruence between observers and senders. EEG results further demonstrated that inter-brain synchrony in the emotional contagion phase among the observer and sender of the interactive group was significantly higher than that of the control group and was significantly correlated with the observer's emotional state. This research suggests that social interaction experience may affect emotional contagion by altering the interpersonal dynamics. The present study adds to the understanding of how social interactions can shape emotional experiences and emphasizes that interpersonal experiences might be a key factor in promoting emotional contagion.