Social Contagion

Social contagion, the spread of behaviors, emotions, or information through a population, is a focus of active research aiming to understand its mechanisms and impacts. Current studies utilize diverse approaches, including graph neural networks analyzing social network data to predict contagion spread (e.g., sleep patterns), and machine learning models, such as diffusion frameworks and contrastive learning, to analyze hyperscanning EEG data and model emotional contagion in dyadic interactions. These investigations are crucial for improving the design of interventions in public health, advertising, and human-robot interaction, as well as for mitigating the spread of harmful online behaviors.