Self-deception inhibits laughter
نویسندگان
چکیده
How does self-deception affect the appreciation of humor and laughter? Fifty-nine undergraduates at Rutgers University (33 females, 26 males) were videotaped while watching a stand-up comedian for 28 min. Positive emotional expressions associated with laughter were analyzed for short sections of the act (total: 8 min or 14,400 video frames) and were scored for each subject using the facial action coding system (FACS). Participants who scored lower on a self-deception questionnaire (low self-deceivers) laughed significantly longer and more intensely than those who scored higher on the questionnaire (high self-deceivers). This was true when corrected for measures of impression management, extraversion, mood and how much a person laughs in their everyday life. If self-deception evolved to deceive others and laughter is a hard to fake signal of preferences, then suppressed laughter by self-deceptive individuals may serve to mask ones preferences. More generally since humor often involves seeing life or a person from a novel angle and self-deception tends to reduce such angles, self-deception will naturally tend to reduce ones sense of humor. 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
منابع مشابه
The evolutionary biology of self-deception, laughter, dreaming and depression: some clues from anosognosia.
Patients with right hemisphere strokes sometimes vehemently deny their paralysis. I describe three new experiments that were designed to determine the extent and depth of this denial. Curiously, when asked to perform an action with their paralyzed arm, they often employ a whole arsenal of grossly exaggerated 'Freudian defense mechanisms' to account for their failure (e.g. 'I have arthritis' or ...
متن کاملThe Impact of Laughter Yoga on Mental Well-being of Cancer Patients under Chemotherapy
Abstract Cancer patients experience physical, psychological, social, and spiritual challenges which are related to mental well-being. Laughter Yoga includes those laughter exercises which may enhance mental well-being in patients undergoing chemo therapy. Purpose: To determine the Impact of Laughter Yoga on Mental Well-being of Cancer Patients under Chemotherapy Methodology: T...
متن کاملThe evolution and psychology of self-deception.
In this article we argue that self-deception evolved to facilitate interpersonal deception by allowing people to avoid the cues to conscious deception that might reveal deceptive intent. Self-deception has two additional advantages: It eliminates the costly cognitive load that is typically associated with deceiving, and it can minimize retribution if the deception is discovered. Beyond its role...
متن کاملA chuckle a day keeps the doctor away: therapeutic humor and laughter.
There are several beneficial efforts attributed to humor and laughter, including improved immune function, increased pain tolerance, and decreased stress response. Humor therapy, laughter therapy, laughter meditation,and laughter clubs all have unique implications as group programs and as self-management techniques. For practitioners to implement credible programs and effectively teach self-man...
متن کاملThe Evolutionary Basis of Self-Deception
Despite its widespread occurrence, self-deception is classified as a form of psychopathology. Because self-deception regularly generates false beliefs, this figures prominently among the motivations for designating self-deception as a form of pathology or malfunction. I argue that this is a poor reason to classify self-deception as a form of psychopathology. From an evolutionary, Darwinian poin...
متن کامل