Chapter 6 – Smiles and Laughter

Summary – Chapter 6

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We saw, in this chapter on smiles and laughter, that smiles are controlled by two sets of muscles called the zygomatic major muscles, that run down the side of the face to connect the corners of the mouth and the orbicularis oculi to help pull the eyes back. The orbicularis oculi produces crow’s feet, smiling eyes or Duchenne smiles, all names meaning the same thing; “real smiles.” The zygomatic muscles, on the other hand, are consciously controlled and can be a giveaway to a false smile as does asymmetry.

Next we looked at the origins of the smile, be it from fear as in the “fear grin”, or from happiness and whether happiness creates smiling or vice versa. We concluded that smiles today symbolize submission and are contagious. We then found that there are five commons smiles, the tight lipped smile with low intensity (indicating a hidden attitude or thought), tight lipped smile with high intensity (not a full honest smile but shows openness), the uneven smile (tongue-in-cheek humour or sarcasm), the upper smile (hidden agenda), the grin or smirk (indicating smugness and arrogance) and the broad smile (a true smile). We found that smiles generate leniency, release endorphins so can be addictive, and that women are more likely to smile than men and do so to placate them. We then covered context as it relates to humour and how humour has many different forms, how humour helps people bond and that it isn’t unique to humans since rats and gorillas emit similar vocalizations. We then looked at the differences between the sexes and saw that women laugh much more at men, than do men at women, suggesting a courtship link to laughter and that men use humour to playfully insult other men whereas women use it to bond. We then discovered that put-down humour can create belongingness so long as it is well received and avoids hitting on insulting truisms, that women should avoid snorting since it is unsexy and that laughter can help people recover from illness.

Laughter And Health

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Studies on laughter reveal that it can help protect the health of the heart, reduce incidence of stroke, can increase tolerance to pain, help boost the immune system through production of antibodies, reduces blood pressure, reduces overall anxiety and can even extend life. It has been shown that chronically angry and hostile people tend to have more heart attacks and those who are chronically depressed have higher incidences of heart disease. Every part of our bodies benefit from laughter and humour and it’s a wonder we get so caught up in the seriousness of our lives that we forget to take a moment just to have a good belly laugh.

When we laugh, stress related hormones decrease significantly. Patients with chronic illnesses show immediate symptom relief with laughter and several programs have been designed around this principle in hospitals. Doctors and psychiatrists even subscribe to laughter therapy to help patients deal with their pain and recovery. “Laughter is the best medicine” is the case for therapeutic humour. This type of therapy encourages discussion of the patient’s humourous experiences in life. Clown therapy has been implemented in hospitals where a hired clown will make rounds and display magic, tell jokes or perform slapstick to entertain patients and make them laugh. Where implemented, the need for sedative is reduced, yet there is an overall decrease in pain reported by patients. Other patients experience an increase in immune function and healing.

Laugh clubs and laughter meditation groups have also formed all over the world where laugher is used as preventative medicine. At regular intervals groups of people meet and laugh. Sometimes the laugh is natural, other times it is forced, however it seems that in either cases the body does not know the difference, and the body chemistry result is the same for both. Laughter yoga was developed by Dr. Madan Kataria in the 1990’s to combine breathing, yoga, stretching and laughter. With this technique no laughing material is necessary as laughing happens without reason. The willingness to laugh is the biggest prerequisite to the courses.

The Types Of Laughs And Why Women Shouldn’t Snort And Grunt

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Psychologist Jo-Anne Bachorowski of Vanderbilt University has discovered and tested various types of laughs. In the research, listeners rated their interest in meeting people with different sounding laughs. She found some interesting patterns. For example, “unvoiced laughs” such as snorts, grunt and pants rather than song like laughs such as the characteristics “ha, ha, ha” were seen as less attractive to both the opposite sex as well as the same sex. Unvoiced laughers, the snorters and grunters as mentioned, where the worse and even more poorly rated when done by women. However, women who had songlike laughs were rated as even more attractive.

The research shows us that the quality of the laugh is important in making us appear more or less attractive to others. Therefore, if interested in impressing others, use a more vocal song-like laugh rather than a panting or breathing laugh if male, and if female especially avoid snorting and grunting laughs.

The types of laughs:

High-pitched, song-like (male) 2

High-pitched, song-like (male)

High-pitched, song-like (female) 2

Unvoiced, snort-like and then cackle (male)

Unvoiced, snort-like (male)

Unvoiced, snort-like (female)

Unvoiced, snort-and then pant-like (male)

Unvoiced, grunt-like (male)

Unvoiced, grunt-like (female)

Song-like with notable pitch modulation (female)

Low-pitched, song-like (female)

Low-pitched, chuckle-like (male)

Long duration, song-like (female)

High-pitched, song-like (female)

 

Put-Down Humour

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Even when we laugh at the expense of others and their misfortunes we create togetherness and solidarity. Putdown humour is any humour that derives amusement at the expense of others. It can be demeaning jokes, teasing, sarcasm or even self-deprecating remarks. While putdowns can be effective to build bonds and friendship there exists certain rules of engagement. For example, a putdown must be within a friendly framework and we must follow certain agreed upon rules. Taking putdown humour too far can be hurtful, and particularly harsh putdowns can be used to elevate ourselves at the target’s expense, or equally, we too we can become victim of putdowns. For example, in a study by Susan Martin in 1978 out of American University it was shown that police officers who use putdown humour against female officers tended to use it because they felt uncomfortable with the notion of having females in a male dominated workplace. However, humour among, say men at a weekly poker night can foster belonging. Overall, men will use putdown humour more often than women and also tend to expect it. Practical jokes work similarly, and sporting teams frequently use pranks to welcome new members.

The real key is to avoid hitting on truisms about a person that can be hurtful. Making fun of someone for being ugly when in fact it is well known that they are confident beauty pageant winner or making fun of a sprinter for being slow, is in good fun, and will be well received. However, poking fun at someone who is rigid or uptight, by including this trait in a joke, it is sure to offend them and while it might have a leveling effect between two people, it serves no unifying characteristics. In fact, the only result likely is to outline key differences between people and help others see this disagreement making everyone involved look bad. Harsh putdowns only serve to disassociate a person from others.

Dr. Terrion of the University of Ottawa who followed a group of police officers through training found that the development of putdowns followed a rough pattern of progression from putting down oneself, to putdowns of shared identities or groups, to putdowns of external groups and finally to putdowns of each other within a group. She also found that officers tended to putdown members of the group that had higher status, and members tended to poke the most fun at others whom they liked most and that using putdowns when members were absent was seen as backstabbing so was frowned upon. One of the cardinal rules of putdown humour, is to only poke fun at people who are present. The study also showed that members that are willing to laugh at themselves tended to be taken into the group more readily. Laughing at oneself shows others that we see ourselves as equals and shows that we can be trusted. Another general putdown rule follows that members that don’t take well to putdowns shouldn’t be targets because it tends to elicit an uncomfortable feeling within the rest of the group.

Putdown humour, when it is framed properly, indicates belongingness and also a desire by others to welcome someone in given that all the rules are properly followed. Conversely, a lack of inclusion into humour, even putdowns, can alienate us just as much as particularly negative humour. The next time someone pokes fun, roll with it and either laugh heartily or joke back, as humour can help break down boundaries and create inclusiveness.

Laughter Differences Between The Sexes

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Women laugh much more at the antics of men then do men at women. This suggests that men use laughter in courtship and that women use humour to measure a man’s general fitness and suitability as a partner. Certainly, personal classifieds advertisements suggest that this is so, as men list a good sense of humour frequently as quality they possess, whereas women advertise as seeking it. The trait is so pervasive in personal dating advertisements that it even has its own acronym GSOH (good send of humour). Even across culture and age, men are the laugh-getters whereas women as the laugh seekers.

It has also been suggested that humour is a signal of cognitive fitness and women use it to gauge the desirability of men or perhaps as a display of their ability to out-compete other men. Humour is a measure of dominance, a social tool, and women gravitate to the dominant men who possess it. Male stand up comedians show many dominant traits not the least of which is to hold the attention of large groups and have them laugh at his jokes, which itself is seen as a submissive act. For this reason, stand up comedians also show leadership. Comedians such as David Letterman host of the Late Show or comedians such as Joe Rogan or Dane Cook. These men make their living by telling jokes. Their body language and the way they control audiences with their humour are testament to their ability to take control.

Comedians are leaders even when we find them in our daily lives. They routinely stand up to hecklers, they influence our emotions and framework and at the same time make us laugh. When a strong joker comes about, we relinquish our control to them, but when two jokers meet, they’ll be found competing against each other to tell the best joke in an attempt to hog the floor.

Typically men will use humour to joke with and playfully insult other men. Women use humour to build social bonds and connect with each other. Women rarely pull off practical jokes. Men use humour to jockey amongst other men for position in the hierarchy and this jockeying is found most prominent when other women are present. Men unanimously prefer women who laugh at their jokes rather than those who make them laugh especially when choosing sexual partners. In a study that followed one hundred five students, it was found that women chose men who produce humour sixty-two percent of the time whereas men choose women who appreciate their humour sixty-five percent of the time. When female speakers present to a male audience they tended to laugh themselves seven percent more then their male audience, whereas male speakers laugh about seven percent less than their female audience. Neither sex laughs as much with female speakers as they do with male speakers.

No doubt, being a female comedian is one tough nut to crack which is why we see far more male professional comedians than female. Both sexes are in agreement, women want a humour generator and men want a humour appreciator. When it comes to friendship, men will seek out women that are funny, but when it comes to sexual relationships, men tend to fair on the side of women that only laugh at jokes rather than those who produce them. In fact, women that display strong tendencies to make other people laugh appear to be a strong turn-off to men. In a 1990 study by Grammer and Eibl-Eibesfeldt where men and women interacted in a natural conversation, the extent to which woman laughed while in conversation was related to her desire to date the man. These findings show that laughing by women is likely an evolutionary signal of sexual attraction. A note of caution though before men get all carried away and start memorizing knock-knock jokes before heading the pub, is that while men who were more humorous were rated more attractive they were also rated as less intelligent and trustworthy. These results weren’t duplicated though as in other studies as humour was linked to other positive personality traits, one of which includes intelligence. It’s likely though, that humour has a basis in dating and attraction, but that women still appreciate someone that can be serious if need be.

Is Laughter Unique To Humans?

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We aren’t the only ones to laugh. In fact, it might not be a surprise to learn that other primates laugh such as chimpanzees, gorillas, bonobos and orangutans show laugh-like vocalizations, but you might be surprised to learn that dogs and rats laugh too! Rats emit short high frequency sounds during play or when tickled. The vocalization is so high pitched that humans can’t hear it. The rats have been found to have what is called “tickle skin” which is found on certain prominent areas over the body. Tickling between the experimenters and rats leads to social bonding and the rats are then conditioned to seek tickling.

Dogs laugh as well. The laugh sounds very similar to a pant to the human ear, but with the help of specialized equipment burst of frequencies can be measured to indicate laughing. Just like in humans, the social laugh in dogs initiates play behaviour and decreases stress hormones. In a 2005 study conducted by Patricia Simonet, Donna Versteeg and Dan Storie where one- hundred-and-twenty dogs were measured across stress behaviours including growling, salivation, pacing, barking, panting, cowering, and lunging. The dogs were compared with each other across a baseline and found that when the laugh track recording was played, they showed an increase in tail wagging and displays of play face. They also showed more social behaviour such as approaching and lip licking. It seems therefore that humans aren’t the only ones to benefit from a good laugh!

Most behavioural psychologists agree that animals and humans laugh in a much different way and while we both laugh for social reasons, animals still lack the underlying self-awareness to laugh exactly like we do so in that sense laughter is somewhat unique to humans.

Above: Rats laugh!

The Purpose Of Humour, Bonding And Laughing

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A 1988 study by researcher Holdaway followed British police officers over two years with respect to humour and how it helps maintain social norms within the workplace and build cohesion between officers. Stories and jokes between new recruits and existing members helped transfer attitudes and feelings that were appropriate for the work environment. In essence, humour was use to welcome people in and also instruct them about how things work and what are the office norms. The research found that delivering messages with humour helps do it in a nonthreatening way.

Smiles and laughter are often mentioned in the same breath, but their origins and purpose come from quite different places. The smile stems from an appeasement gesture rather than playfulness as we saw previously while laughter appears to stem from humour. Some recent research shows that this is only one facet of the laugh. Dr. Robert Provine a psychologist from the University of Maryland measured laughs in shopping malls and on sidewalks and found that laughing came at the expense of comments that were far from humorous. Comments such as “I see your point” and “put those cigarettes away” caused people to burst into laughter showing that laughter is more of a way to bond and formulate social relationships then purely as the result of jokes. In fact, only ten to twenty percent of laughter came from anything that even resembled something funny, showing that it is actually the person that is humorous rather than the actual comment. In other words, people were laughing to maintain bonds with the joke teller instead of as a response to the actual joke.

He also found that subordinate people will laugh simply to appease more dominant people, and that dominant people exclude themselves from the laugh so as to maintain their dominance. Controlling laughter therefore, can help control our dominance or submission to others, as well as show our acceptance or rejection of others. Therefore, a polite laugh shows that we are at least “onboard” with a person even though we might not totally agree that what they have said is in fact funny.

Laughter is a form of mirroring and communicates mutual liking and well-being. It can also be used to reduce the harshness of comments or even to take comments back. Humour is an innate vocalization that fosters a sense of community and can help in learning and in creativity. It helps break down walls between different people and can act like a social lubricant to bind people together. Laughter is thirty times more likely to happen in a social setting rather than alone and studies have shown that people don’t really seem to care if the laugh is fake or real, they still tend to like people more when they laugh versus doing nothing at all. Laughing helps us build bonds and even fake laughs help because at least it shows that we are trying.

Theory Of Jokes, Humour And What Is Appropriate

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The theory of how humour works has been extensively studied. The actual numbers of theories and reasons for making us laugh is well over eighty but some of the more common reasons we laugh include irony, slapstick, black humour, satire and farce. Most humour though, has roots in surprise, that is, the joke or physical stunt has a result that we didn’t expect, and so this un-expected result makes us excited. Sometimes we laugh at the misfortune, stupidity or clumsiness of someone else, because for that moment, we feel superior to them.

Jokes must always be situational and contextually appropriate. In the right company, almost anything goes, but when in the office, or around mixed company, censorship is a must. Self deprecating humour is almost always a good way to open joking because the only victim is oneself. However, during a job interview, it would be silly to joke about one’s inadequacies. We definitely need to make ourselves appear more equal to our peers and self jokes can do this. Amongst a new crowed, self deprecating humour can show that we aren’t uptight or feel superior to others.

In the workplace, dirty, sexist, racial and religious jokes need to be particularly avoided. Men, more so than women, will welcome sexist jokes, but there are always exceptions to any norm. Most men will feel uncomfortable with sexist jokes poking fun at women, especially when women are present. Racial or sexist jokes that offend others of which the teller isn’t a part, can also tread on shaky ground. For example, it is generally accepted to make a joke about men, if you are male or likewise a woman if female but if white, making a black joke will appear racist rather than funny. This has roots in self deprecating humour, where making fun of yourself is fair game, but making fun of others can be rude with the wrong audience. While jokes that make fun of the opposite sex or members of other groups tend to elicit the most positive reaction, they are also the most risky. Jokes that make fun of a shared identity also tend to go over well. When unsure however, it’s best to use universal jokes or playful jokes and avoid potentially risky jokes. When on new turf, let your environment predict which jokes are most welcome.

Laughing Cycle, Laughing Makes People Laugh

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Laughter, it is no surprise, is very contagious. When we hear laughter we often take part, or at the very least, crack a smile. When we get really caught up in laughter the cycle continues in an open loop circuit, perpetuating itself until we are unable to breath or are in tears.

Consider the events of 1962 where an outbreak of laughter in Tanganyika Tanzania. It started at a small boarding school where twelve to eighteen year old school girls started a six month long bout of laughter. The laughter was so severed the school had to be temporarily closed, but upon its closure, the children carried the infectious laughter to other parts where it spread to other communities. While certain logistics makes it impossible to endure such a long bout of laughter, particularly because it makes eating and sleeping impossible, let alone the acuteness of loss of breath and dizziness which would occur, it still helps illustrates the infectiousness of the laugh that we have all experienced.

The addition of laugh tracks to television situational comedies is another artifact of our desire to join in with laughter. If you have ever watched a similar comedy absent of the track or a studio audience, you will have noticed that it becomes obvious how important laughter is in the jokes effectiveness. Instinctively during a conversation or joke, we all know exactly the right time to laugh and even laugh, absent of anything else, still elicits laughter, showing just how pervasive it is.

Origins Of Laughs And Why Laughing Is Addictive

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Some researchers conclude that laughs are a modification of the fear response which they theorize grew out of an historical warning that danger was near. By this theory, the laugh occurs because our brains are scared or frightened into laughing. This helps to explain why we often come to tears when laughing for prolonged periods, why we sometimes laugh when scared, or when we deal with horrific events such as a death by suddenly laughing, instead of a seemingly more appropriate response.

Strangely as it might sound, laughing is usual for people during periods of stress and uncertainty. We just laugh it off. Other theories say that laugh came about through a relaxed open play face which is similarly observed in other primates. Chimpanzees and Barbary macaques, for example, show a similar breathing sound “ahh ahh ahh.” Laughing in other primates comes from mock fighting, and social play and in humans, it first appears at one to two months of age and happens during tickling or sudden appearance of novel stimuli as in the peek-a-boo game. My son’s first laughs came about through fear. It was the only way we could get him to laugh. Even now, he laughs when startled such as in the peek-a-boo game.

Researcher Robert Provine describes the laugh as a series of short vowel-like notes or syllables, each being about seventy-five milliseconds in duration that repeat at regular intervals separated by about two hundred ten milliseconds. Laughs go something like “ha-ha-ha” or “ho-ho-ho” but never “ha-ho-ha-ho”. We can see other variations though like “cha-ha-ha” or “ha-ha-ho”. Laughs also tend to punctuate points or sentences and rarely find themselves mid sentence. His research outlines even more complexities in the laugh and if you are particularly interested in laugh structure I urge you to seek out his research, it is quite fascinating.

Laughing can become addictive too, since it releases natural pain killers called endorphins which give us a natural high. Thrill seekers such as sky divers, or race car drivers and even runners, and those who exercise regularly, also reap the rewards of the natural endorphin rushes. Endorphins have been shown to be stronger then morphine as a pain killer so activities like mentioned above can become habit forming. Being around people that make us laugh and smile gives us a positive outlook on the world. Similarly, being around people that are consistently frustrated, bring us down, as we empathize with their emotions. Our autonomic nervous system responds to our environments and the people in it which is why it is important to surround ourselves with people that make us feel good. Conversely, we can become the person others seek to initiate positive feelings, so taking the time to make someone laugh can have a huge payoff.