Anger Can Be Contagious - Here's How To Stop The Spread
Emotions circulate through social networks — the good, bad and ugly. And these days the feeling that seems most viral is anger. Sometimes it takes just one act of kindness to stop the vicious cycle.
Even if you're not aware of it, it's likely that your emotions will influence someone around you today.
This can happen during our most basic exchanges, say on your commute to work. "If someone smiles at you, you smile back at them," says sociologist Nicholas Christakis of Yale University. "That's a very fleeting contagion of emotion from one person to another."
But it doesn't stop there. Emotions can spread through social networks almost like the flu or a cold. And, the extent to which emotions can cascade is eye-opening.
For instance, Christakis' research has shown that if you start to become happier with your life, a friend living close by has a 25 percent
