Study: Laughter Can be Genuine, Strategic
By Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News
Dec. 30, 2005 - Laughter is either genuine or consciously feigned, according to a new analysis that details how laughter has evolved over the past seven million years.
The study, published in the current Quarterly Review of Biology, is the first to emphasize that two types of laughter exist. The first type is spontaneous and stimulus-driven, while the second, with the rather sinister nickname "the dark side of laughter," is strategic and, at times, downright cruel.
Matthew Gervais, lead author of the study, described the two types to Discovery News.
"One type of laughter arises spontaneously from the perception of a certain class of events, while the other is used strategically in interaction to influence others or modulate one's own physiology," said Gervais, who is a researcher in the Evolutionary Studies Program at Binghamton University in New York.
Analyzing past studies that contained data on ape features, such as oral-facial muscle control, as well as using theory and data on brain neurons, evolutionary psychology and other disciplines, Gervais and colleague David Sloan Wilson determined that genuine laughter is innate and mirrors ape play-panting, which arose around seven million years ago.
In fact, they believe human laughter sounds more like a wild primate call than language.
Between four and two million years ago, this laughter evolved as a reaction to non-serious social incongruity, such as when one human ancestor would hear another loudly pass gas while the individuals felt safe and were playing.
Around two million years ago, according to the researchers, our ancestors evolved the ability to willfully control facial expressions.
It was not long before fake smiles led to fake laughter, which can be used for emphasis in conversations, to relieve fear, to shame others - as when a clique of friends laughs with derision at an outsider - and for many other purposes.
Genuine laughter first emerges involuntarily in babies from the middle part of the brain and brainstem areas. Fake laughter originates toward the front of the brain, and seems to develop more as a person ages.
"One of the hallmarks of the human brain is the extent to which cortical, cognitive, namely prefrontal areas can influence and control behavior, and these areas are the last to develop and perhaps never cease doing so," said Gervais.
He indicated that control over laughter may not be such a bad thing, since it could prevent someone from laughing out loud at inappropriate times, which may vary depending on the culture.
"These areas can definitely be used to inhibit laughter in accord with norms, such as those of the church or business meeting, and this likely plays a large role in cultural variation in laughter," he said.
The researchers do not rule out the possibility that people who spontaneously laugh more are genetically superior to those who hardly ever chuckle. Gervais said frequent genuine laughers could be "healthier, happier, more attractive or more cooperative."
Politicians, television personalities, and other individuals might even manipulate our perception of such laughing fitness by punctuating their words with what laughter expert Robert Provine calls "laugh-speak."
"What I call 'laugh-speak,' a hybrid of speaking and laughing, is under more voluntary control, and is used by talk-show hosts and others to buffer an uncomfortable point," said Provine, who is a psychology professor at the University of Maryland Baltimore County and the author of the book "Laughter: A Scientific Investigation."
Provine said he agreed with the new study, but told Discovery News that laughter, for the most part, is an "honest signal," because it is hard to fake a good laugh. He indicated that phony smiles are harder to identify.
All of the researchers did agree that laughter and humor are separate, yet linked, phenomena.
"We will learn more about the origin of humor from studying laughter than vice-versa," said Provine. "And tickle is at the root of it all. My candidate for the first joke? The feigned tickling of the 'I'm going to get you game,' popular with babies and young children worldwide."
Dec. 30, 2005 - Laughter is either genuine or consciously feigned, according to a new analysis that details how laughter has evolved over the past seven million years.
The study, published in the current Quarterly Review of Biology, is the first to emphasize that two types of laughter exist. The first type is spontaneous and stimulus-driven, while the second, with the rather sinister nickname "the dark side of laughter," is strategic and, at times, downright cruel.
Matthew Gervais, lead author of the study, described the two types to Discovery News.
"One type of laughter arises spontaneously from the perception of a certain class of events, while the other is used strategically in interaction to influence others or modulate one's own physiology," said Gervais, who is a researcher in the Evolutionary Studies Program at Binghamton University in New York.
Analyzing past studies that contained data on ape features, such as oral-facial muscle control, as well as using theory and data on brain neurons, evolutionary psychology and other disciplines, Gervais and colleague David Sloan Wilson determined that genuine laughter is innate and mirrors ape play-panting, which arose around seven million years ago.
In fact, they believe human laughter sounds more like a wild primate call than language.
Between four and two million years ago, this laughter evolved as a reaction to non-serious social incongruity, such as when one human ancestor would hear another loudly pass gas while the individuals felt safe and were playing.
Around two million years ago, according to the researchers, our ancestors evolved the ability to willfully control facial expressions.
It was not long before fake smiles led to fake laughter, which can be used for emphasis in conversations, to relieve fear, to shame others - as when a clique of friends laughs with derision at an outsider - and for many other purposes.
Genuine laughter first emerges involuntarily in babies from the middle part of the brain and brainstem areas. Fake laughter originates toward the front of the brain, and seems to develop more as a person ages.
"One of the hallmarks of the human brain is the extent to which cortical, cognitive, namely prefrontal areas can influence and control behavior, and these areas are the last to develop and perhaps never cease doing so," said Gervais.
He indicated that control over laughter may not be such a bad thing, since it could prevent someone from laughing out loud at inappropriate times, which may vary depending on the culture.
"These areas can definitely be used to inhibit laughter in accord with norms, such as those of the church or business meeting, and this likely plays a large role in cultural variation in laughter," he said.
The researchers do not rule out the possibility that people who spontaneously laugh more are genetically superior to those who hardly ever chuckle. Gervais said frequent genuine laughers could be "healthier, happier, more attractive or more cooperative."
Politicians, television personalities, and other individuals might even manipulate our perception of such laughing fitness by punctuating their words with what laughter expert Robert Provine calls "laugh-speak."
"What I call 'laugh-speak,' a hybrid of speaking and laughing, is under more voluntary control, and is used by talk-show hosts and others to buffer an uncomfortable point," said Provine, who is a psychology professor at the University of Maryland Baltimore County and the author of the book "Laughter: A Scientific Investigation."
Provine said he agreed with the new study, but told Discovery News that laughter, for the most part, is an "honest signal," because it is hard to fake a good laugh. He indicated that phony smiles are harder to identify.
All of the researchers did agree that laughter and humor are separate, yet linked, phenomena.
"We will learn more about the origin of humor from studying laughter than vice-versa," said Provine. "And tickle is at the root of it all. My candidate for the first joke? The feigned tickling of the 'I'm going to get you game,' popular with babies and young children worldwide."