In their 2020 review published in Animals, researchers Elisabetta Palagi and Giada Cordoni explore the behavioral and neurological underpinnings of emotional alignment in dogs and wolves. They focus on two key phenomena: rapid mimicry (RM)—the immediate, involuntary replication of another’s motor actions—and yawn contagion (YC), both of which reflect emotional contagion and social bonding.
These behaviors are more frequent among individuals with close social ties, suggesting that emotional synchronization serves an adaptive function by strengthening intra-group cohesion. For example, dogs are more likely to mimic or yawn in response to familiar individuals—whether canine or human—than strangers. This is particularly noteworthy in domestic dogs, who form intense social bonds not only with conspecifics but also with humans, often regarded as part of their social group.
By comparing dog–dog, dog–human, and wolf–wolf interactions, the authors argue that the ability to emotionally engage with others is deeply rooted in canid evolution. Wolves, as ancestors of domestic dogs, display similar synchronization behaviors within their packs. This continuity supports the idea that the emotional connection between dogs and humans likely emerged from pre-existing inter-individual empathic mechanisms in their wild counterparts.
The authors suggest that this evolved capacity for mimicry and synchronization may be foundational to the emotional intimacy seen in dog–human relationships. Moreover, they emphasize that these behaviors are not constrained by dominance hierarchies, and instead thrive in cooperative and affiliative contexts, reinforcing emotional alignment through everyday interactions like play, grooming, or shared routines.
Ultimately, the review underscores that emotional sharing in dogs is not merely a product of domestication, but rather an extension of social and empathic capacities already present in wolves. The evidence provides compelling support for the theory that interspecies empathy between dogs and humans is built upon an ancestral blueprint of intraspecific emotional synchrony.
Source: Elisabetta Palagi, Giada Cordoni. “Intraspecific Motor and Emotional Alignment in Dogs and Wolves: The Basic Building Blocks of Dog–Human Affective Connectedness.” Animals, 2020-02-01. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10020318
