social contagion
Mood spreads socially
Social contagion describes how behaviors, emotions, ideas, or trends spread through populations in ways that resemble the transmission of infectious disease.
The concept captures how exposure to others' actions or beliefs can trigger adoption of those same patterns, whether through direct contact or indirect observation.
Researchers apply the term to phenomena ranging from the spread of laughter and yawning to more consequential patterns like smoking, obesity, or self-harm among peer groups.
Studies suggest social contagion plays a role in how eating disorders spread through social networks.
Copy of the original
- conformityAdherence to norms
- groupthinkConformity-driven poor decisions
- herd behaviorMimicking the group's actions
- mob mentalityCollective irrationality in groups
peer pressure · bandwagon effect · copycat · mirroring · compliance · emulation · mass hysteria · collective behavior
Spreading quickly online
- epidemicWidespread disease occurrence
- transmissionSending of information
- propagationAct of spreading widely
- diffusionPassive molecular spreading
dissemination · cascade · proliferation · ripple effect · outbreak · amplification · network effect · exponential growth
Fast-spreading popular content
- fadShort-lived enthusiasm
- crazeShort-lived popular obsession
- hypeExaggerated promotional fanfare
- memeShared online humor
challenge · hashtag · influencer · fashion · bandwagon · zeitgeist · buzz · going viral
Convincing through reasoning
- manipulationUnderhanded control of others
- suggestibilityReadiness to accept influence
- propagandaBiased information for influence
- indoctrinationSystematic uncritical belief instillation
echo chamber · brainwashing · normalization · rhetoric · framing · priming · nudge · radicalization
imitation
Copy of the original
- conformityAdherence to norms
- groupthinkConformity-driven poor decisions
- herd behaviorMimicking the group's actions
mob mentality · peer pressure · bandwagon effect · copycat · mirroring · compliance · emulation · mass hysteria · collective behavior · herding
viral
Spreading quickly online
- epidemicWidespread disease occurrence
- transmissionSending of information
- propagationAct of spreading widely
diffusion · dissemination · cascade · proliferation · ripple effect · outbreak · amplification · network effect · exponential growth · chain reaction
viral trend
Fast-spreading popular content
meme · challenge · hashtag · influencer · fashion · bandwagon · zeitgeist · buzz · going viral · trending
persuasion
Convincing through reasoning
- manipulationUnderhanded control of others
- suggestibilityReadiness to accept influence
- propagandaBiased information for influence
indoctrination · echo chamber · brainwashing · normalization · rhetoric · framing · priming · nudge · radicalization · attitude change
empathy
Sharing another's emotions
- social phenomenaconformity, inequality, polarization, globalization, collectivism
- social psychologyconformity, attribution, groupthink, group dynamics, bystander effect
- collective emotionscollective guilt, mass hysteria, national pride, national mourning, mob mentality
- mob psychologymob mentality, herd behavior, pack mentality, deindividuation, mass hysteria
- runaway effectschain reaction, domino effect, snowball effect, runaway effect, feedback loop
- memory errorsmemory leak, false memory, memory distortion, misattribution, confabulation
social contagionviral infection
Disease caused by microbes
bacterial infection · germ theory · airborne transmission · infectious disease · disease transmission
social contagionsocial isolation
Lack of human contact
independent thought · cultural resistance · herd immunity · social distancing · containment
social contagionindividual autonomy
Power over own choices
nonconformity · self-determination · critical thinking · contrarianism · free will
social, society, sociable, socialism, antisocial, socialist, socialize, contagion, socially