Emotional Contagion — Who Controls the Mood in Your Room

Every room has an emotional temperature, and it was set before anyone spoke. Before the first joke or the first complaint, before the first tense exchange or the first burst of genuine laughter, the emotional climate of any gathering has already been established — by the people in it and the nervous systems they brought with them. The question is not whether emotional contagion is happening. It is always happening. The question is: are you the person setting the temperature, or are you the person catching whatever someone else set?