Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Pollination and Flower Structure02:40

Pollination and Flower Structure

75.2K
Flowers are the reproductive, seed-producing structures of angiosperms. Typically, flowers consist of sepals, petals, stamens, and carpels. Sepals and petals are the vegetative flower organs. Stamens and carpels are the reproductive organs.  
75.2K
Nonconscious Mimicry01:13

Nonconscious Mimicry

5.1K
Nonconscious mimicry occurs when individuals alter their mannerisms to match the behaviors and expressions of those nearby, without intention.
5.1K
The Influence of Affect on Cognition01:29

The Influence of Affect on Cognition

260
Positive affect significantly influences cognitive processes, including evaluation, memory, creativity, and social judgments. Compared to negative affect, positive emotional states promote more favorable interpretations of stimuli, cognitive flexibility, and heuristic processing. These effects highlight emotions' powerful role in shaping how individuals perceive, remember, and interact with the world.Influence on Evaluation and AttributionWhen individuals experience positive affect, they are...
260
Role of Affect in Interpersonal Attraction01:24

Role of Affect in Interpersonal Attraction

211
Affect plays a crucial role in shaping interpersonal evaluations and perceptions. Emotions influence how individuals judge and respond to others, often determining whether interactions are viewed positively or negatively. This effect can manifest directly through interactions with the person in question or indirectly via associations with unrelated emotional experiences.Direct Effects of Affect on AttractionAffect directly influences interpersonal attraction when a person’s behavior...
211
Frequency-dependent Selection01:21

Frequency-dependent Selection

23.0K
When the fitness of a trait is influenced by how common it is (i.e., its frequency) relative to different traits within a population, this is referred to as frequency-dependent selection. Frequency-dependent selection may occur between species or within a single species. This type of selection can either be positive—with more common phenotypes having higher fitness—or negative, with rarer phenotypes conferring increased fitness.
23.0K
Inclusive Fitness00:57

Inclusive Fitness

37.3K
Most altruistic behavior—in which one animal helps another at a cost to themselves—occurs between relatives. Scientists think these altruistic behaviors evolved because they increase the inclusive fitness of the animal providing help.
37.3K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Bumblebees' orofacial reactions to tastes provide evidence for affective evaluation.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same author

Flexible, abstract rhythm perception in bumble bees.

Science (New York, N.Y.)·2026
Same author

Does bumblebee preference of continuous over interrupted strings in string-pulling tasks indicate means-end comprehension?

eLife·2024
Same author

Evidence for socially influenced and potentially actively coordinated cooperation by bumblebees.

Proceedings. Biological sciences·2024
Same author

The role of cognition in nesting.

Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences·2023
Same author

Bumblebees retrieve only the ordinal ranking of foraging options when comparing memories obtained in distinct settings.

eLife·2022

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 14, 2026

Empirical, Metagenomic, and Computational Techniques Illuminate the Mechanisms by which Fungicides Compromise Bee Health
08:36

Empirical, Metagenomic, and Computational Techniques Illuminate the Mechanisms by which Fungicides Compromise Bee Health

Published on: October 9, 2017

10.2K

Positive affective contagion in bumble bees.

José E Romero-González1, Zhenwei Zhuo2, Lulu Chen1

  • 1State Key Laboratory of Multi-organ Injury Prevention and Treatment, Key Laboratory of Mental Health of the Ministry of Education, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Center for Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Guangdong-Hong Kong Joint Laboratory for Psychiatric Disorders, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Psychiatric Disorders, Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine for Qingzhi Diseases, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory on Brain Function Repair and Regeneration, Department of Psychiatry, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China.

Science (New York, N.Y.)
|October 23, 2025
PubMed
Summary

Researchers found positive affective contagion in bumble bees, demonstrating that emotions can transfer between bees visually. This suggests affective contagion is an evolutionarily widespread mechanism in social insects and vertebrates.

More Related Videos

A Novel Behavioral Assay to Investigate Gustatory Responses of Individual, Freely-moving Bumble Bees Bombus terrestris
07:30

A Novel Behavioral Assay to Investigate Gustatory Responses of Individual, Freely-moving Bumble Bees Bombus terrestris

Published on: July 21, 2016

9.1K
SwarmSight: Real-time Tracking of Insect Antenna Movements and Proboscis Extension Reflex Using a Common Preparation and Conventional Hardware
08:13

SwarmSight: Real-time Tracking of Insect Antenna Movements and Proboscis Extension Reflex Using a Common Preparation and Conventional Hardware

Published on: December 25, 2017

8.6K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jan 14, 2026

Empirical, Metagenomic, and Computational Techniques Illuminate the Mechanisms by which Fungicides Compromise Bee Health
08:36

Empirical, Metagenomic, and Computational Techniques Illuminate the Mechanisms by which Fungicides Compromise Bee Health

Published on: October 9, 2017

10.2K
A Novel Behavioral Assay to Investigate Gustatory Responses of Individual, Freely-moving Bumble Bees Bombus terrestris
07:30

A Novel Behavioral Assay to Investigate Gustatory Responses of Individual, Freely-moving Bumble Bees Bombus terrestris

Published on: July 21, 2016

9.1K
SwarmSight: Real-time Tracking of Insect Antenna Movements and Proboscis Extension Reflex Using a Common Preparation and Conventional Hardware
08:13

SwarmSight: Real-time Tracking of Insect Antenna Movements and Proboscis Extension Reflex Using a Common Preparation and Conventional Hardware

Published on: December 25, 2017

8.6K

Area of Science:

  • Behavioral Ecology
  • Insect Behavior
  • Social Cognition

Background:

  • Affective contagion, a key aspect of empathy, is well-documented in social vertebrates.
  • Its presence in invertebrates, particularly insects, remains largely unexplored.
  • Understanding affective contagion in insects can shed light on the evolution of sociality and empathy.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the existence and mechanisms of affective contagion in bumble bees (Bombus terrestris).
  • To determine if positive affective states can be transferred between individual bees.
  • To explore the sensory modalities involved in this affective transfer.

Main Methods:

  • A cognitive bias paradigm was employed using trained bumble bees and novel ambiguous stimuli (colored flowers).
  • Bees were exposed to conspecifics in either a positive or neutral affective state.
  • Judgment bias towards ambiguous stimuli was measured as an indicator of affective state transfer.

Main Results:

  • Bumble bees exposed to a conspecific in a positive affective state exhibited a significantly positive judgment bias.
  • These bees were quicker and more likely to interact with ambiguous floral cues.
  • Affective transfer occurred even without physical contact, suggesting visual transmission.

Conclusions:

  • Positive affective contagion is present in bumble bees, a social insect.
  • Affective contagion may be a conserved, evolutionarily widespread mechanism across social vertebrates and insects.
  • This finding has implications for understanding the evolution of empathy and social behavior in insects.