Laughter as a Function of Audience Size, Sex of the Audience, and Segments of the Short Film “Duck Soup”

Abstract

96 subjects formed 18 “audiences,” nine composed entirely of men and nine entirely of women. Audiences were composed of either 2, 4, or 10 subjects, and were instructed to view the short film “Duck Soup.” Data reflecting the frequency, amplitude, and duration of laughter were obtained for each of three segments of the film by passing taped laughter through a sound-level recording device. Results of three 2 (sexes) × 3 (size of audience) × 3 (segments of the film) analyses of variance indicate that the largest audience was responsible for the most responding on all measures and that the last segment of the film was also associated with more responding than the middle segment. No sex differences were observed in any analysis, and no interactions were significant. Results are discussed in terms of the facilitation of laughter by size of audience, the nature of comedy, and the non-artifactual nature of high scores.