How Microexpressions Can Make Moods Contagious

It's a common experience for family members or groups of friends: One person's mood can bring the whole group's energy down ... or up. But why are we so easily influenced?

In 1962, the reality television show Candid Camera offered a remarkable glimpse into a psychological phenomenon that helps explain how emotions spread. They did it through a now famous comedy stunt called "Face the Rear."

It goes like this: we see an unsuspecting man walk into an elevator that has been