The Psychology of the gift of Laughter on this Christmas Day

“The objective world has vanished and is forgotten, the proprieties and even the presence of others are lost, and the soul is all eye and ear to the one laughable object. Care, trouble, and even physical pain are forgotten, and the mind, as it were, falls back through unnumbered millennia and catches a glimpse of that primeval paradise where joy was intense and supreme.”

(Hall & Allin, 1897)

I just finished watching one of those annual end-of-the-year retrospectives and it was a bit of a downer. To put it mildly and colloquially.  Acts of terrorism, a young girl getting shot because she wanted to advocate for access to education, 20 kids dying in an elementary school, 12 people dying at a movie theater, several people shoved to their deaths off a subway platform and the pink slime in our school lunches-just to name a few things that went quite wrong this year. It got me thinking of how the best gift I received this Christmas morning-just to sound totally cliché-was the experience of hearing my son laugh.  So many tears are being shed around the world at the moment but laughter can truly be a gift.

Laughter has been with us before humankind developed speech and served as an expressive-communicative social signal. A 1999 research study (Martin & Kuiper) found that on average, individuals had about 18 daily incidents of laughter, but with wide individual variations (0–89 incidents). The typical source of daily laughter was spontaneous situational laughter with most incidents of laughter occurring in the presence of others.  I do wonder if in a time of social media and other changes in communication, if there is a wider range of situations that would induce laughter?  Many might say that we have less funny movies and television shows these days but we will have to table that debate.  Below are a few of the research findings that show the true utility of laughter…

• During spontaneous laughter our self-awareness and self-attention is diminished.
• Researchers have found that songlike laughs are significantly more likely to elicit. positive responses than not-so-pretty sounds such as grunts, pants, and snortlike sounds.
• Relaxed social laughter is associated with feelings of wellbeing and heightened affect.
• Laughter can possibly produce a release of endorphins.
• Pain thresholds are significantly higher after laughter.
• Laughter plays a crucial role in social bonding.
• Tickling, a long-standing way of stimulating laughter, is a means of communication between preverbal infants and mothers, and between friends, family, and lovers.

My own research has shown that we need not laugh at the same time, but just feel comfortable to laugh in each other’s space. It is the same, in some ways, as feeling comfortable enough to not talk and just be quiet in a shared space. Laughter is intimate yet also an individual experience.  Furthermore, if you are feeling lethargic, rent The Hangover or Bridesmaids (you know, a funny movie). If you are wondering what is the big deal about the association between laughter and endorphins, look at what else endorphins are associated with. Specifically, endorphins are produced by the pituitary gland during exercise,excitement, consumption of spicy food, and orgasm, and can produce analgesia and a feeling of well-being. Thus, laughter is in good company in terms of its effect on the body.  You have probably heard of a runner’s high. Well, there is a laughter’s high.

Today is a day for refection, family, joy and unwrapping gifts. Today and everyday, the gift of laughter brings me a sense of inner peace.  Laughter, that funny movement within our insides, can have a calming and soothing effect on the soul.  Laughter keeps us motivated. Laughter helps us focus externally and on others; it can help us aid others. Laughter bonds us and keeps us bonded to others. Laughter helps us get through pain.

So, on this day may you receive and may you give the gift of laughter!

Merry Christmas