Motivational Contagion

What is this Phenomenon?

The spread of motivation throughout a group is influenced by both verbal and nonverbal cues that are continually transmitted through both verbal and nonverbal feedback. The feedback provides the group members with knowledge of their progress and contributes to the spread of motivation. Motivational contagion can be either positive or negative, and group leaders play an important factor in its perpetuation.

Contagions can be understood through a simplified analogy of “leading by example.” Research (Hatfield, Cacioppo, & Rapson, 1994) has shown that people mimic and synchronize their movements quickly and virtually automatically with the facial expressions, voices, postures, movements, and instrumental behaviors (e.g., blinking, yawning, moving, talking, and fidgeting) of others. Though continuous feedback, which provides the group members a constant knowledge of results, the group members are poised for a high level of internal work motivation. Either the group's leader (e.g., coach or conductor) or other group members (e.g., basketball player or violinist) can provide feedback through verbal comments or nonverbal gestures. Given the ideas of mimicry and continuous feedback, an individual's motivational experience can be affected moment to moment, and therefore one can “catch” the motivations of others. This is motivational contagion.

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