Effects of Group Laughter on Responses to Humourous Material, a Replication and Extension

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Abstract
To test the validity of one interpretation of the concept of “social laughter,” specifically that the sound of others laughing, increases the probability with which an individual will exhibit overt expressions of amusement, Ss' responses were observed under conditions in which group laughter was dubbed onto or omitted from verbal material varying in humourous content. For items of both high and low humour the addition of dubbed laughter increased the frequency of Ss' overt expressions of amusement. However, under this condition Ss rated the items as more humourous. It was hypothesized that, although “social laughter” may represent some form of social facilitation, the laughter of others may act as a contextual cue directing the listener to search for a humourous interpretation of the stimulus material presented to him. Implications for the practice of using dubbed laughter in commercial broadcasting were briefly discussed.

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