Differentiation of Emotions in Laughter at the Behavioral Level

Although laughter is important in human social interaction, its role as a communicative signal is poorly understood. Because laughter is expressed in various emotional contexts, the question arises as to whether different emotions are communicated. In the present study, participants had to appraise...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Emotion (Washington, D.C.) D.C.), 2009-06, Vol.9 (3), p.397-405
Main Authors: Szameitat, Diana P, Alter, Kai, Szameitat, André J, Darwin, Chris J, Wildgruber, Dirk, Dietrich, Susanne, Sterr, Annette
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Affectivity. Emotion
Biological and medical sciences
Emotions
Emotions - physiology
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Happiness
Human
Humans
Interpersonal Relations
Laughter
Laughter - physiology
Male
Nonverbal Communication
Personality. Affectivity
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Social Behavior
Social Interaction
Social interactions. Communication. Group processes
Social psychology
Teasing
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Summary:Although laughter is important in human social interaction, its role as a communicative signal is poorly understood. Because laughter is expressed in various emotional contexts, the question arises as to whether different emotions are communicated. In the present study, participants had to appraise 4 types of laughter sounds (joy, tickling, taunting, schadenfreude) either by classifying them according to the underlying emotion or by rating them according to different emotional dimensions. The authors found that emotions in laughter (a) can be classified into different emotional categories, and (b) can have distinctive profiles on W. Wundt's (1905) emotional dimensions. This shows that laughter is a multifaceted social behavior that can adopt various emotional connotations. The findings support the postulated function of laughter in establishing group structure, whereby laughter is used either to include or to exclude individuals from group coherence.
ISSN:1528-3542
1931-1516
DOI:10.1037/a0015692