Social facilitation of laughter in children

Abstract

This experiment was designed primarily to show that laughter can be socially facilitated. Independent groups of 7-yr-old children listened on headphones to amusing material under three conditions: they were tested in isolation (alone condition), with a nonlistening companion (audience condition), or with another who also listened to the material (coaction condition). Pairs of children were of like sex. The companions from the audience condition listened on a later occasion. Total times spent laughing and smiling were highest in the coaction condition, and were higher in the audience condition than in the alone condition. The data provide some support for Zajonc's “mere presence” hypothesis. They are also discussed in relation to: (1) informational aspects of laughter; (2) the relationship between overt expressive responses and subjective ratings of funniness; (3) an operational definition of “mirth”; (4) sex differences in laughter and smiling.