Therapy Dogs and Joy Contagion in the Classroom

Children visit dogs in the B.A.R.K. program at the University of British Columbia

Source: Freya L. L. Green Photography; used with permission

Emotional contagion has been described as “The tendency to mimic and synchronize facial expressions, vocalizations, postures, and movements with those of another person’s and, consequently, to converge emotionally” (Hatfield, 2009, p. 492).

Increasingly researchers are investigating the notion of emotional contagion—the transferring of emotions from one individual to another in a shared context. Admittedly, the bulk of research to date skews negative and sees researchers keen to understand how stress is passed from a high-stress individual to others.

An illustration of this is found in research by Oberle and Schonert-Reichl who sought to investigate emotional contagion in classrooms and how stress might be shared or spill over in school. Cortisol was measured in 400 students in 4^th through 7^th grade, along with their 16 teachers, and findings revealed that higher morning cortisol levels in students could be significantly predicted from higher burnout levels in classroom teachers. As argued by these researchers, “Whereas positive and supportive environments can help students thrive, stressful classroom environments can jeopardize healthy development and success in school” (p. 30).

Source: J.T. Binfet; Used with permission

Emotional contagion has even been studied between dog handlers and their therapy dog. In an effort to explore whether stress from handlers might be passed to therapy dogs, Silas and colleagues examined the self-reports of stress from 40 handlers and behavioral observations of their therapy dogs. Their findings revealed that in handlers with elevated pre-session stress, dogs showed higher signs of stress than did their counterparts characterized by moderate or low stress.

To a lesser extent, researchers have investigated positive emotional contagion and even whether positive emotions might be transferred via social media. In a study of over 689,000 Facebook users, researchers surmised that: "When positive expressions were reduced, people produced fewer positive posts and more negative posts; when negative expressions were reduced, the opposite pattern occurred. These results indicate that emotions expressed by others on Facebook influence our own emotions, constituting experimental evidence for massive-scale contagion via social networks" (Kramer et al., 2014, p. 8788). Readers are also directed to Robert Puff's Psychology Today blog entry titled "Is Happiness Contagious?"), where Puff highlights research comparing happiness versus sadness contagion.

A student draws herself alongside a visiting therapy dog

Source: J.T. Binfet; used with permission

In an attempt to activate joy contagion in a public school classroom, Henry, a therapy dog from the University of British Columbia’s B.A.R.K. program, was introduced to a 2^nd and 3^rd grade class. Students learned of the dog’s history (a rescue shelter mutt with three legs) and hypothesized as to how he might have lost a limb. Next, students were invited to meet and pet Henry if they so desired.

Students practiced asking the handler for permission to pet Henry and learned how to ask the dog for consent with a lowered open palm. Students were then invited to complete an assignment in response to the prompt: What makes Henry special, and what makes you special? Surprisingly, few students drew or wrote about Henry missing a leg and rather focused on his size or his fur and markings. Students celebrated their own uniqueness in their drawings of themselves, highlighting their varied qualities and talents.

Student drawings in response to "What makes Henry special and what makes you special?"

Source: J.T. Binfet; Used with permission

As research emerges around emotional contagion in classrooms, educators are encouraged to purposefully introduce joy contagion in their classrooms as a means of enriching the climate of the classroom. This can also help reduce factors contributing to professional burnout and serve as a way of enhancing curriculum for students.