Showing posts with label happiness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label happiness. Show all posts

Friday, 27 October 2023

Laughing at others? The role of gender and the moderating effect of age.

Abstract: People have different responses to being laughed at, including fear of being laughed at, joy from being laughed at and joy from hearing others laugh. Previous studies have indicated that men have a higher tendency of laughing at others, but there were no gender differences on terms of the other two responses. Socioemotional selectivity theory indicates that individuals pay less attention to negative stimuli as they get older. It is worth investigating whether the gender differences of gelotophobia and gelotophilia occur in certain developmental stages. 


The present study is a cross-sectional study, with a sample size of 1247 participants; we collected information regarding laugh-related traits among participants 11-66 years old, and we particularly focused on the moderation effect of age on gender differences on gelotophobia, gelotophilia and katagelasticism. The results showed that men had a stronger tendency for laughing at others, but there were no significant gender differences on terms of gelotophobia and gelotophilia; age not only moderated the relationship between gender and gelotophobia but also the relationship between gender and katagelasticism. Male adolescents had higher incidences of gelotophobia and katagelasticism than female adolescents, but this finding was not consistent in the middle adulthood sample. The present study found age to be a moderator between gender and laugh-related traits, and it indicated the influence of age on the fear of being laughed at during early adolescence, but there was no gender difference with respect to katagelasticism in middle adulthood. (Wu, Chan & Chen)

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- Wu, C.-L., Chan, Y.-Ch. & Chen, H.-C. (2019). Gender differences on laugh-related traits: A cross-sectional study. International Journal of Psychology, 54(5), link
- photograph of Melinda Mercouri (1920-1994) via

Thursday, 20 March 2014

International Day of Happiness

"On this first International Day of Happiness, let us reinforce our commitment to inclusive and sustainable human development and renew our pledge to help others. When we contribute to the common good, we ourselves are enriched. Compassion promotes happiness and will help build the future we want."
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, International Day of Happiness 2013

Background music for this posting by Pharrell Williams, 2014 partner of the United 
Nations Foundation to celebrate Internatioal Day of Happiness; click "Happy"



Happy worldwide: JamaicaHong KongVienna, Tel AvivGrazBeijingBucharestTorino, Naples, Sydney, Rome, MarseilleDublinBudapestLebanon, MaltaBremen, Buenos Aires, SibiuVilnius, Lugano, Sofia, ...

Photo viaUN resolution, Day of Happiness