Rapid mimicry and emotional contagion in domestic dogs

Abstract

Emotional contagion is a basic form of empathy that makes individuals able to experience others’ emotions. In human and non-human primates, emotional contagion can be linked to facial mimicry, an automatic and fast response (less than 1 s) in which individuals involuntary mimic others’ expressions. Here, we tested whether body (play bow, PBOW) and facial (relaxed open-mouth, ROM) rapid mimicry is present in domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) during dyadic intraspecific play. During their free playful interactions, dogs showed a stronger and rapid mimicry response (less than 1 s) after perceiving PBOW and ROM (two signals typical of play in dogs) than after perceiving JUMP and BITE (two play patterns resembling PBOW and ROM in motor performance). Playful sessions punctuated by rapid mimicry lasted longer that those sessions punctuated only by signals. Moreover, the distribution of rapid mimicry was strongly affected by the familiarity linking the subjects involved: the stronger the social bonding, the higher the level of rapid mimicry. In conclusion, our results demonstrate the presence of rapid mimicry in dogs, the involvement of mimicry in sharing playful motivation and the social modulation of the phenomenon. All these findings concur in supporting the idea that a possible linkage between rapid mimicry and emotional contagion (a building-block of empathy) exists in dogs.

Investigating the Function of Play Bows in Dog and Wolf Puppies (Canis lupus familiaris, Canis lupus occidentalis)

“…Mutual rear-ups occurred only once (once for the bower and partner) in dog puppies, and never in wolf puppies. Therefore, it is possible that the puppies were limited by their lack of bodily control or social experience to rear-up or align their behaviors with a partner, and that this behavior increases in frequency with age, or potentially as a function of a preferred play partner rather than a littermate [27,30,33]. …”

“…Moreover, play bows may help strengthen bonds between dogs that share common motivations. Palagi et al [27] found that during dyadic dog play, both the open mouth display and play bow often elicited the same behavior in the partner immediately afterward, thus suggesting that rapid mimicry may indicate shared positive emotions and facilitate behavioral coordination.…”

“…Specifically, we aimed to investigate whether the behavioral patterns observed around play bow signaling in adult dogs developed similarly in both dog and wolf puppies. In doing so we expand on the study by Byosiere et al [24] that assessed a variety of proposed functions such as whether play bows function as visual signals [11,24], to clarify intentions [26], to resume play, to occupy a better strategic position [16], or to synchronize behavioral actions [27,28]. …”

Affiliation, dominance and friendship among companion dogs

“…This rise in oxytocin appears to facilitate further social interaction, producing a positive feedback loop that is likely an important mechanism underlying social bond formation in dogs and other animals (Romero et al, 2014). Consistent with this view, Palagi et al (2015) reported that during intraspecific play, dogs with longer associations showed increased rapid mimicry of the play faces and play bows of their partners.…”

“…In dogs, the exchange of affiliation with conspecifics triggered the release of oxytocin, a hormone associated with social bonding and positive emotions, and the release of oxytocin may, in turn, increase the motivation to maintain long-term affiliative bonds with particular individuals (Romero et al, 2014). Boissy et al (2007) proposed that play and affiliation are some of the best behavioural indicators of positive emotions in animals, and Palagi et al (2015) suggested that during play, rapid mimicry between partners promotes contagion of such positive emotions. Thus, dogs' tendencies to form friendships allow them to transcend differences in sex, age, size and rank to create relaxed, compatible partnerships that likely add to their quality of life.…”