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Cited by 110Humor Studies and ApplicationsEmotions and Moral BehaviorPrimate Behavior and Ecology

Differentiation of emotions in laughter at the behavioral level

Open access
Szameitat, Diana P., Alter, Kai, Szameitat, André J., Darwin, Chris J., Wildgruber, Dirk, Dietrich, Susanne, Sterr, Annette·2009·Emotion
DOI 10.1037/a0015692
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Abstract

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.

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  • Different laughter types are distinguishable based on the vocal signal and cerebral activation patterns.

    “It has been demonstrated that different laughter types are distinguishable based on the vocal signal [27] and cerebral activation patterns [28], [29].”

    From They are laughing at me: Cerebral mediation of cognitive biases in social anxiety (2014) · cites this paper as [27]

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Authors
Szameitat, D. P., Alter, K., Szameitat, A. J., Darwin, C. J., Wildgruber, D., Dietrich, S., & Sterr, A.
Affiliations
  • University of Tübingen (DE)
  • Newcastle University (GB)
  • Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (DE)
  • University of Sussex (GB)
  • Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research (DE)
  • University of Surrey (GB)
ORCID
Venue
Emotion
Publisher
American Psychological Association (APA)
Published
2009
Volume
9
Issue
3
Pages
397-405
ISSN
  • 1528-3542 (ISSN-L)
  • 1931-1516
DOI
10.1037/a0015692
OpenAlex
W2077128513
Cited by
110
References
56
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 3
FWCI
6.50
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Emotion (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Surrey Research Insight Open Access (The University of Surrey) (submittedVersion)
  • Open Research (University of Surrey) (submittedVersion)
  • Newcastle University ePrints (Newcastle Univesity)
Funders
  • Marie Curie Foundation
  • German Research Foundation (DFG AL357/1; WI2101/2)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Humor Studies and Applications
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotions and Moral Behavior
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
Keywords
laughter, emotion differentiation, emotional appraisal, affective domain, joy, tickling, schadenfreude, social communication, group cohesion, social inclusion and exclusion
MeSH terms
Emotions, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Laughter, Nonverbal Communication, Social Behavior

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