Effects of Group Laughter on Responses to Humourous Material, a Replication and Extension

Abstract

To test the validity of one interpretation of the concept of “social laughter,” specifically that the sound of others laughing, increases the probability with which an individual will exhibit overt expressions of amusement, Ss' responses were observed under conditions in which group laughter was dubbed onto or omitted from verbal material varying in humourous content. For items of both high and low humour the addition of dubbed laughter increased the frequency of Ss' overt expressions of amusement. However, under this condition Ss rated the items as more humourous. It was hypothesized that, although “social laughter” may represent some form of social facilitation, the laughter of others may act as a contextual cue directing the listener to search for a humourous interpretation of the stimulus material presented to him. Implications for the practice of using dubbed laughter in commercial broadcasting were briefly discussed.

“It’s not funny if they’re laughing”: Self-categorization, social influence, and responses to canned laughter

“…In most studies, the stimulus is an audiotape recording and the laughter is prerecorded. Using these methods, some researchers have found higher levels of both overt laughter and humor ratings of the stimulus in response to laughter by others (Fuller & Sheehy-SkeYngton, 1974;Martin & Gray, 1996;Smyth & Fuller, 1972); some researchers have found higher levels of overt laughter, but no diVerences in humor ratings (Chapman, 1973;Pistole & Shor, 1979); and at least one researcher has found higher humor ratings, but no overt laughter eVect (PorterWeld et al, 1988). 1 In two studies, the laughter of live confederates was used (Chapman & Chapman, 1974;Nosanchuk & Lightstone, 1974).…”

How text and audio chat change the online video experience

“…Laughing with others has been shown to increase one's perceptions of amusement [21]. Further, laughter in groups is often used as a signal to look for humorous material in the content being watched [7]. Although our questionnaire measures did not pick up differences in enjoyment between text and audio groups in this study, we speculate that groups that tried audio chat may have experienced stronger feelings of connectedness and presence with each other because of (or reflected in) their shared laughter.…”

The influence of a virtual companion on amusement when watching funny films

“…Although laugh tracks have been shown to influence individual's amusement responses (see for example Fuller and Sheehy-Skeffington 1974;Olson 1992;Platow et al 2005), they are typically pre-scripted and vocal only. In comparison, virtual companions exhibit amusement facially and verbally, which might lead to a stronger fostering of amusement.…”