Understanding Scope Conditions and Evidence for Emotional Contagion in Interpersonal Interactions: A Reply to Van Orden and Joiner (2006)

Van Orden and Joiner's (2006) article proposes two reasons for the nonsignificant emotional contagion effects documented in the Segrin (2004) investigation and three potential moderators of the emotional contagion effect. In this reply, I provide some additional data and analyses from the Segrin (2004) study to address and elaborate on their proposed explanations and moderators. In addition, I offer an evaluation of the potential utility as well as theoretical challenges associated with specifying reassurance seeking, relationship closeness, and depressive symptoms versus mood as potential moderators of the emotional contagion effect.