The Definitive Book of Body Language

The Definitive Book of Body Language

experiences and other laughter research by Dr Patch Adams,

they allocated a room and filled it with joke books, comedy

films and humorous tapes, and had regular visits from cornedi-

ans and clowns. Patients were then exposed to 30- to 60-minute

sessions each day. The result was impressive - a dramatic

improvement in patient health and shorter average hospitalisa-

tion time per patient. The Laughter Rooms also showed a

decrease in the number of painkillers required by those in pain

and patients became easier to deal with. So you could say that

the medical profession now take their laughter seriously.

He who laughs, lasts.

Smiles and Laughter Are a Way of Bonding

Robert Provine found that laughing was more than 30 times as

likely to occur in participants in a social situation than in a

solitary setting. Laughter, he found, has less to do with jokes

and funny stories and more to do with building relationships.

He found that only 15% of our laughter has to do with jokes.

In Provine's studies, participants were more likely to speak to

themselves when alone than they were to laugh. Participants

were videotaped watching a humorous video clip in three dif-

ferent situations: alone, with a same-sex stranger and with a

same-sex friend.

Only 15% of our laughter has to do with

jokes. Laughter has more to do with bonding.

Even though no differences existed between how funny the par-
ticipants felt the video clip was, those who watched the amusing
video clips alone laughed significantly less than did those who
watched the video clip with another person present, whether it
was a friend or a stranger. The frequency and time spent laugh-