What is laughter?
Laughter is a phenomenon that takes place in a multitude of situations in our everyday life. Understanding laughter means, in the end, understanding the way we and the society around us functions. Besides the socially expressive phenomenon of smiling combined with a vocalisation of specific sounds on different frequencies, laughter is a complex human process with multiple uses that is still yet to be understood to its fullest.
Do only humans laugh?
Arthur Koestler had deemed laughter as the “Luxury Reflex”, having only been identified in humans by that time, and containing apparently no use in everyday contexts. This hypothesis has been however proven wrong in the more recent discoveries, showcasing that even rats can “laugh”, emitting a specific frequency when tickled or when engaging in playful activities together with other specimens, making us wonder about more of the initial theories regarding this phenomenon. Even though animals do not have the physical facial muscles in order to smile or associate their laughter with a different facial expression, they can indeed “laugh” by emitting certain sounds that can be recognised by other individuals belonging to their species.
Why, when and where do we laugh?
Laughter has been identified to appear throughout multiple different contexts and situations. As researchers have proven, it can be used as a means to transmit information towards others around you. Laughter is identifiable in other people even though it differs from one to another, being considered even “pathological” by some psychoanalysts. Laughter is subjective and usually communicates a lot about one’s inner values, personality, character and mental state, therefore it can also be used as a form of proving or manifesting affection towards someone, or as a means in order to fit into a certain group. The Duchenne smile is a certain facial expression involving the muscles of the eyes and cheeks, that can be seen naturally when laughing, for certain people, or used in order to improve persuasiveness when dealing with another person or group. Laughter can also occur in other contexts in order to relieve pain. Nervous or forced laughter can occur in different stressful or awkward contexts, as well as when facing something entirely new and unknown. This type can often be seen in individuals with a high level of emotional instability, usually coming together with excessive laughter, which can be linked to some types of mental issues.
Conclusion
Even though laughter comes in all types, shapes, sounds and contexts, laughter unites us as much as it differentiates us from one another. It makes us unique but at the same time feel like we belong.
Sources:
Martin, R. A., & Ford, T. E. (2017). The Physiological Psychology of Humor and Laughter. The Psychology of Humor (Second Edition), 173-204. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-812143-6.00006-0
Panksepp, J. (2007). Neuroevolutionary sources of laughter and social joy: Modeling primal human laughter in laboratory rats. Behavioural Brain Research, 182(2), 231-244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2007.02.015
Nummenmaa, L., Malèn, T., Nazari-Farsani, S., Seppälä, K., Sun, L., Santavirta, S., Karlsson, H. K., Hudson, M., Hirvonen, J., Sams, M., Scott, S., & Putkinen, V. (2023). Decoding brain basis of laughter and crying in natural scenes. NeuroImage, 273, 120082. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120082
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