It’s the way you tell ‘em

For those who are familiar with our work at Laughter Lab you will probably know that we often make an attempt to disassociate laughter from humour and amusement. We do this to make clear that our relationship with laughter is not always as transparent as it may first appear. For instance, when we ask people on our webinars and workshops what makes them laugh – they often jump to humorous scenarios or funny people. The reality is that we laugh more with those we like and love than those we find funny and that laughter often comes after connections are formed and a bond of trust is established. Laughter says, I am open and I want to engage with you.

Once we are comfortable in understanding the fundamentals of how we use laughter, we can then start to explore the positive emotion of amusement and its relationship with this odd behaviour of laughter. We very often hear that being funny and having a good sense of humour is a good thing – something to be revered and a positive quality. Indeed, being funny has been linked with a higher intellect which is a reason we might sometimes find that an admirable quality in a potential romantic partner; we humans are very good at sifting out adaptive skills that supports the continued existence of our species. If you are smart, then that’s a good thing – the species will thrive. If you are funny, then you are smart – so if I laugh at you then it’s telling me that you are someone who is a good mate. And so on…

But the benefits of positive emotions exceed finding a good mate. They are what makes like worth living and can, in these turbulent times, help us to find opportunities for improved wellbeing and reduced anxiety. Laughter is great for our physical and psychological wellbeing – it helps strengthen our core, is linked to improved lung health, reduces unhelpful hormones and helps us to psychologically switch off from stressors. Humour can feed this and is one of the mechanisms deliver laughter. Humour and amusement can benefit us without laughter too. As a character strength, humour is associated to having a lighter outlook on life and is linked to the virtue of transcendence (Seligman and Peterson, 2004). It is associated with an ability to manage stress, be creative and experience less neuroticism (Niemic, 2014) and is one of the character strengths most associated with life satisfaction. Invariably we are connecting with others when we experience humour and amusement which means we also benefit from social connection and community – the single most significant contributor to our wellbeing.

Laughter and humour are very comfortable bedfellows but may often occur with the absence of the other. They are both intrinsic to improved subjective wellbeing and overall happiness. By understanding them and experiencing them more consciously we can generate more of these uplifting experiences and positive outcomes.

What is your relationship with humour and how can you cultivate it?

This week spend some time noticing what and who amuses you? Write down three things that have amused you during the course of the day and reflect on it at the end of the week to understand more about your connection with humour.

Jane