Publications
Publications
- April 2020
- Trends in Cognitive Sciences
Digital Emotion Contagion
By: Amit Goldenberg and James J. Gross
Abstract
People spend considerable time on digital media, and during this time they are often exposed to others’ emotion expressions. This exposure can lead their own emotion expressions to become more like others’ emotion expressions, a process we refer to as digital emotion contagion. This paper reviews the growing literature on digital emotion contagion. After defining emotion contagion, we suggest that one unique feature of digital emotion contagion is that it is mediated by digital media platforms that are motivated to upregulate users’ emotions. We then turn to measurement, consider the challenges of demonstrating that digital emotion contagion has occurred, and determine how these challenges have been addressed. Finally, we call for a greater focus on understanding when emotion contagion effects will be strong versus weak or nonexistent.
Keywords
Emotion; Emotion Contagion; Digital Media; Social Media; Emotions; Media; Online Technology; Measurement and Metrics
Citation
Goldenberg, Amit, and James J. Gross. "Digital Emotion Contagion." Trends in Cognitive Sciences 24, no. 4 (April 2020): 316–328.