Humor Generation Research Articles

A social facilitation view of the generation of humor and mirth reactions: Effects of a laugh track

Reactions of small groups of students exposed to a video presentation with or without a laugh track were videotaped. Those in the laugh track group exhibited significantly more mirth behavior but did not evaluate the stimulus as significantly funnier. Group membership was a significant contributor to both behavior and affect, but neither group size nor laughter of others in the group proved to be significant predictors. Comparisons are made between affective and behavioral influences in light of several theoretic perspectives.