![\"box_fox55\/Pixabay\"](\"https:\/\/cdn2.psychologytoday.com\/assets\/styles\/article_inline_half_caption\/public\/field_blog_entry_images\/2023-01\/couple-dance-romance-laughter-psychology-emamzadeh.jpg?itok=dSoK20Gi\" "\\"box_fox55\/Pixabay\\"")
<\/div>\nSource: box_fox55\/Pixabay<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Laughter<\/a> is a universally recognizable expression of positive emotion <\/span>that<\/span> promote<\/span>s<\/span> affiliation and is good for health and relationships. R<\/span>esearch shows, for instance, that <\/span>shared laughter promotes well-being<\/a> and interpersonal chemistry<\/a>. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Not all laughs are<\/span> spontaneous and authentic, however; <\/span>some can be<\/span> <\/span>voluntary and <\/span>faked<\/span>. <\/span><\/span>The two types can be differentiated thus: <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Compared to <\/span>genuine laughter<\/span>, <\/span>manipulated<\/span> laughter is <\/span>characterized<\/a> by<\/span> lower arousal, intensity, pitch, variability, and duration. <\/span><\/span>Fake laughter is used for a variety of reasons. <\/span><\/span>For example, <\/span><\/span>to c<\/span><\/span>onvey information on: <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Therefore, laughter is regulated in some situations depending on the goal\u2014as in faking laughter at a bad joke by a classmate (in order to fit in) or the boss (to endear oneself to him or her).<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n One important question is whether people can tell genuine and manipulated laughter apart; another is whether they can<\/span><\/span><\/span> tell, from the sound of laughter only, <\/span><\/span>if <\/span><\/span>two individuals are friends or romantic partners.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n A recent study by Farley<\/a> et al., <\/span><\/span><\/span>published in the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior<\/em>, concluded that people are <\/span><\/span>indeed a<\/span><\/span>ble to identify, with accuracy above chance, whether <\/span><\/span>a <\/span><\/span>stranger\u2019<\/span><\/span>s <\/span><\/span>laughter is <\/span><\/span>directed at a friend <\/span><\/span>or recent romantic partner. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Study 1<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Sample of raters:<\/em><\/span> college students (N = 50; 15 male); <\/span>average age of 25 years old (range of 18 to 53 years); 46 percent African-American and 42 percent European-American.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Methods:<\/em><\/span> Raters came to the laboratory and listened to laughs from archived phone calls. <\/span><\/span>These involved 27 callers (14 women) in the early stages of a romantic relationship<\/a>, who had made calls either to their romantic partners or same-sex<\/a> friends. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Raters were instructed to evaluate the laughs for pleasantness and to guess whether they were directed at <\/span>a caller\u2019s<\/span> romantic partner or friend.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Study 2<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Sample:<\/em><\/span> 58 students <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Methods:<\/em><\/span> <\/span>P<\/span>articipants completed a<\/span> scale <\/span>developed by the authors, <\/span>which aimed to <\/span>captur<\/span>e<\/span> perceptions of laughter that is spontaneous versus fake: breathy\/not breathy, changing\/monotone, loud\/soft, natural\/forced, and relaxed\/tense. <\/span><\/span>The scale development was informed by previous research show<\/span>ing that<\/span> authentic laughter tends to be more variable, breathier, and louder, and to sound more natural and relaxed. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Also<\/span> measured <\/span>were <\/span>perceptions of <\/span>laughter <\/span>vulnerability: feminine\/masculine, baby-like\/mature, scatterbrained\/serious-minded, submissive\/dominant, and warm\/cold.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Overall, e<\/em><\/span>ight <\/em>laughs <\/span>were evaluated, meaning <\/span>t<\/span>wo prototypical laughs <\/span>(<\/span>from the previous investigation<\/span>)<\/span> for each of the four types of laughter: male-friend, male-romantic partner, female-friend, and female-romantic partner. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Study 3<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Sample:<\/em><\/span> 252 Prolific workers (125 men); 48 from the United States, <\/span>with the rest coming from<\/span> Mexico, Poland, Portugal, India, and <\/span>a <\/span>few other countries.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Methods:<\/em><\/span> Raters listened to 12 laughs, three from each of four conditions (female\/male friends and female\/male romantic partners). They were instructed to guess whether the laughter came from a call between friends or romantic partners. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Subsequently, they completed ratings on the following <\/span>characteristics of the laugh<\/span>: cold\/warm, masculine\/feminine, monotone\/changing, natural\/forced, not breathy\/breathy, relaxed\/tense, soft\/loud, and submissive\/dominant. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The results showed people can detect whether laughter is directed at a friend or a recent romantic partner. <\/span><\/span>Specifically:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Source: InstagramFOTOGRAFIN\/Pixabay<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Overall, friendship<\/span> laughter was identified more accurately, perhaps because it sound<\/span>ed<\/span> more spontaneous and authentic. <\/span><\/span>Men and women were similarly accurate in identifying friendship laughter, though women performed better in identifying romantic laughter. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n J<\/span>udgments of friend versus romantic relationship status, the authors note, \u201cwere reliably linked to subjective characteristics of laughter \n
Investigating Laughter and Relationship Status <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n
Identifying Friendship vs. Romantic Laughter <\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n
Relationships Essential Reads<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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![\"InstagramFOTOGRAFIN\/Pixabay\"](\"https:\/\/cdn2.psychologytoday.com\/assets\/styles\/article_inline_half_caption\/public\/field_blog_entry_images\/2023-01\/man%20woman-romance-laughter-psychology-emamzadeh.jpg?itok=W9PLjPp-\" "\\"InstagramFOTOGRAFIN\/Pixabay\\"")
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