Being dirty with yawning people

Researchers think that yawning is associated with illness. (image )

In a new study in the scientific journal Personality and Individual Differences, researchers say we may also dislike yawning in company because we associate it with illness. For example, certain neurological conditions can lead to abnormal yawning. Even if a person gets a fever, he may yawn more often.

The researchers asked 196 American students to complete a questionnaire. They were asked to indicate the extent to which they felt disgusted in different scenarios involving pathogens. The students were also asked to indicate how rude they thought it was when people sneeze, cough, hiccup or yawn near them, and how important they thought it was that people should do this.