Funny Business

We change our laugh to suit the crowd. Laughter is a subtle attempt to shape others' responses.

By Robin Poultney published May 1, 2003 - last reviewed on June 9, 2016

Men's laughter changes according to how well they know their
audience, while women laugh more in the presence of men.

Laughter is a subtle attempt to shape others' responses, according to Jo-Anne Bachorowski, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychology at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Specifically, variations in laugh frequency and high-pitched
"voiced" laughter, such as giggling or chuckling, aim to arouse.
"Laughter is a nonconscious strategy of social influence," explains
Bachorowski, who asked listeners to rate the attractiveness of recorded laughter. The results were published in
Psychological Science.