Humans are not the only animal that laughs!!

 Introduction of psychology of humor:

After contemplating a lot to decide my blogging niche , I have decided to write about humor. Though I am not a person who cracks jokes or a person with good sense of humor . So, you will not find my blog tone  mirthful. But I am sure after reading my series of  blogs on psychology related humor and laughter , you guys will be acquainted with various psychological and linguistic phenomena and social dilemmas. We all experience humor in our daily life after hearing a joke or mirthful anecdote, witty comment, watching standup comedy or pranks or an inadvertent ( unintentional) slip of the tongue by politician. Our response towards  such different forms of humor are different. Some will chuckle, some will only crack a smile and others will burst out in peals of convulsive laughter. Such responses are accompanied by salubrious and pleasant feelings of emotional well being and mirth. Some will be offended by it.  Humor is an enjoyable, delightful and playful activity, typically you can call it a mental play that involves non serious and lighthearted attitude towards ideas, events and situations. Psychology of humor is a fascinating and rewarding topic for scientific investigation. Humor serves various cognitive, social and emotional functions which I will discuss in the later blogs extensively. 

Cognitive functions:

Humor can enhance creativity, problem solving ability, memory retention and learning by stimulating divergent thinking, cognitive flexibility and mental associations. 

Social functions:

Humor can foster communication cooperation, bonding by creating a relaxed environment. Humor can also regulate social norms, roles and power by criticizing and mocking oppressive ideologies and practices. According to Victor Borge ,Laughter is the shortest distance between two people. Therefore, humor and laughter help to maintain social cohesion. 

Emotional functions:

 Humor can help us cope with negative emotions such as adversity, stress and depression by providing relief and distraction.                                    

Psychology of Humor Across Specializations

Psychology of humor is not only an intriguing topic for academic psychologists but also for other types of psychologists. 

Cognitive psychologist :

Focus on the comprehension, perception, appreciation and concept of humor. 

Social psychologist:

Investigate the functions of humor in dyadic and group interactions will intrigue them to study psychology of humor. 

Developmental psychologist:

They study how humor develops from infancy into childhood and throughout their lifespan. 

Personality researchers:

Examine individual differences in sense of humor and relation to traits and behaviors. 

Biological psychologist:

Shed light on the psychological basis of laughter and the brain regions underlying the comprehension and appreciation of humor. 

Other psychologists

Professionals in education, clinical psychology, organizational psychology, industrial , health psychology and psychotherapy will explore the impacts and miracles of humor in their respective disciplines.

Universality of Humor

Laughter and humor are universal aspects experienced by all cultures and individuals around the world. Developmentally, laughter is one of the first social vocalizations after crying emitted by human infants ( McGhee, 1979).Infants begin to laugh in response to actions of other people at about 4 months of age . Even gelastic epilepsy ( laughter producing) in newborns indicate that brain mechanisms for laughter are already present at birth. Other pieces of research also shows that children born deaf and blind have reported to laugh appropriately without perceiving the laughter of others. Researchers are now really interested to explore more about the specialized brain circuits for laughter and humor in humans through neuro imaging studies. 

“Humans are not the only animal that laughs. “

It will be surprising for you to know that human beings are not the only animals that can laugh rather many animals like apes and chimpanzees can also laugh. A unique form of laughter in Chimpanzees have been described by primatologist including Charles Darwin. Similar types of laughter is also produced by apes including bonobos, gorillas and orangutans. 

Apes

Now imagine how would apes laugh! 

But remember their laughter is not like human laughter. Their laughter is staccato, throaty and panting vocalization accompanied by relaxed open mouth .They emit laughter during playful activities and rough and tumble activities like while wrestling, tickling etc. 

Rudimentary sense of humor in Apes:   

In addition to laughter, there is evidence that apes may even have the capacity for a rudimentary sense of humor                                                                                                   

Chimpanzees and gorillas that have been taught to communicate by means of sign language have been observed to use language in playful ways that are very reminiscent of humor, such as punning, humorous insults, and incongruous word use (Gamble, 2001).      

                                                             Interestingly, these humorous uses of linguistic signs are sometimes also accompanied by laughter and the play face, indicating a close link between humor, play, and laughter even in apes.                          

Thus, evolutionary researchers states that humor and laughter in humans are the product of natural selection. Laughter has originated from social play and derived from primate play signals. They also posit that laughter is the part of non verbal gesture call system, which has a long evolutionary history, predating the development of language. 

With the evolution of greater intellectual and linguistic abilities, humans have adapted the laughter-generating play activities of their primate ancestors to the mental play with words and ideas that we now call humor (Caron, 2002). 

These origins of laughter suggests that laughter and humor have likely important social and emotional functions that have contributed to our survival as a species. 

Time for laughter therapy:

Keep the joy alive, because laughter is the melody of a happy heart. Do share any meme, joke or mirthful personal anecdote with us in the comment section.