By studying the phenomenon of contagious yawning, the researchers learned that people’s reactions in virtual reality can be quite different from what they are in actual reality. They found that contagious yawning happens in VR, but people’s tendency to suppress yawns when they have company or feel they’re being watched don’t apply in the VR environment. Further, when people immersed in VR are aware of an actual person in the room, they do stifle their yawns. Actual reality supersedes virtual reality.
