大象传媒

We’re not the only mammals that laugh, we’re joined in that by hyenas, chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and bonobos, among others. But what is the purpose of this almost universal habit?

Listen to why do we laugh?

Ella Al-Shamahi talks to Professor Sophie Scott from University College London and stand-up comedian Ria Lina to find out what the true function of laughter is and why it has both a physical and emotional effect.

Here are eight things we found out about laughter:

We start young

Laughter is a biological trait handed down from our ancestors and it manifests itself quickly. “Humans start laughing from as early as three months,” explains Ella, “so even before they can speak.”

It’s easy

It’s not surprising that laughter is common to all cultures on Earth – it’s easy. “It really is a very basic way of making a sound,” says Professor Scott, “you’re doing all the hard work down at the rib cage, and it's just squeezing air out of you. There's nothing going on like all the fancy stuff that's happening with the tongue and the lips and the jaw when you're speaking.”

It really is better shared

Professor of neurobiology and leading laughter specialist, Robert Provine found that we are thirty times more likely to laugh if someone else is with us than if we are on our own. “What that means is laughter lives in conversations,” says Professor Scott.

It is doing a communicative job

Most laughter is actually provoked by relatively trivial social matters in conversation rather than actual jokes. “What you're doing is you're communicating that you are part of the same group as the people you're with,” explains Professor Scott, “and that you like the people that you're with. If you don't like those people, you're very unlikely to laugh along with them. We laugh to show agreement, understanding and recognition.”

There are two different kinds of laughter

Professor Scott outlines two types of laughter. One is reactive, a “spontaneous emotional and non-verbal vocalisation” perhaps in a setting where it is inappropriate and where it is “a bit like screaming in terror.” The other is laughter in conversation where, the professor says, “you laugh in a much more coordinated way”. This laughter is “not completely spontaneous” but “it's not under voluntary control either. You're not thinking. ‘Now I will laugh.’”

It's a sign of how close we are

A key part of “social glue”, laughter can even signify just how cohesive a group is. Professor of communication Greg Bryant recorded a series of conversations between two people in which there was laughter. When the recordings were played back to strangers, they were able to accurately guess how close the two people were.
“There’s something very truthful about laughter,” observes Professor Scott, “it's a good tell about how people really feel.”

It really is medicinal

Laughing reduces adrenaline, the fight or flight hormone, and cortisol, the stress hormone. In fact, it’s a triple whammy, because you also get an endorphin bump. Crucially, however, the reduction in stress is only achieved if everyone laughs, so it’s similar to the mood improvement experienced when people dance or sing together. “It's not just laughing,” explains Sophie, “it's about people with whom you can negotiate a reason to laugh together.”

“The best laughter is when you laugh as well”

The quality of shared laughter is something that stand-up comedians also prize, even though they are more used to one-way traffic.

“I don't want people to think that I'm totally jaded,” says comedian Ria Lina, but I think all comedians will agree that the best laughter is when you laugh as well. Because we deal in laughter, and so much does not make us laugh anymore, to be able to laugh with the audience on something is the biggest joy.”

Find out more on the social dynamics of laughter and who the hardest comedy audience is by listening here