Laughter as social lubricant - Mark van Vugt

LAUGHTER AS SOCIAL LUBRICANT 28
link between the laughter produced by the comedy clip and the increase in pain
tolerance of participants. 3
Summary
Thus, watching a comedy clip seems to be associated with a significant
increase in serum endorphin titre (as indexed by pain tolerance), and the magnitude of
this effect is a linear function of the degree of laughter among participants. There was
an interesting sex difference with males showing an increased pain tolerance after
watching a comedy clip, which was related to the proportion of laughter (we address
this in the General Discussion).
General Discussion
This research yields convergent support for the idea that laughter acts as social
lubricant by enhancing a sense of group membership via the release of endorphins.
Laughter was induced through exposure to a comedy (vs. neutral) clip. We then
measured participants’ physiological, affective, and behavioral reactions in various
experimental tasks. Our findings revealed that laughter – through watching a comedy
– induces positive affect, while reducing negative affect. Furthermore laughter
facilitates social bonding and social cooperation particularly among strangers.
Laughter also significantly increases pain tolerance, which suggests that laughter is
associated with endorphin release. Our research is one of the first to show that
laughter is directly responsible for these effects. Below we discuss the implications of
our findings, attempting to integrate them into a broader biosocial hypothesis about
the functions of laughter in groups.
Social Lubricant Theory of Laughter
The social lubricant theory is inspired by social, evolutionary, and positive
psychological approaches to the study of laughter. It assumes that laughter fosters