Michael Titze and Rolf Kühn When Laughter Causes Shame : the Path to Gelotophobia

Gelotophobia may be considered as a specific variant of shame-bound anxiety. It is defined as the pathological fear of being the ridiculous object of laughter. Therefore, an important criterion for the assessment of gelotophobia is the patients’ pronounced sensitivity with regard to any kind of humorous remark. Gelotophobia can be traced back to early childhood experiences of intense and repeated exposure to mockery and ridicule in the course of socialization. Gelotophobes constantly fear being screened by others for evidence of ridiculousness. Thus, they carefully avoid situations in which they feel exposed to others. Gelotophobia at its extreme involves a pronounced paranoid tendency, a marked sensitivity to offense, and a resulting social withdrawal. In this chapter, the origins and consequences of gelotophobia are described.