Detecting affiliation in colaughter across 24 societies

Gregory A Bryant; Daniel M T Fessler; Riccardo Fusaroli; Edward Clint; Lene Aarøe; Coren L Apicella; Michael Bang Petersen; Shaneikiah T Bickham; Alexander Bolyanatz; Brenda Chavez; Delphine De Smet; Cinthya Díaz; Jana Fančovičová; Michal Fux; Paulina Giraldo-Perez; Anning Hu; Shanmukh V Kamble; Tatsuya Kameda; Norman P Li; Francesca R Luberti; Pavol Prokop; Katinka Quintelier; Brooke A Scelza; Hyun Jung Shin; Montserrat Soler; Stefan Stieger; Wataru Toyokawa; Ellis A van den Hende; Hugo Viciana-Asensio; Saliha Elif Yildizhan; Jose C Yong; Tessa Yuditha; Yi Zhou

doi:10.1073/pnas.1524993113

Detecting affiliation in colaughter across 24 societies

Gregory A Bryant, Daniel M T Fessler, Riccardo Fusaroli, Edward Clint, Lene Aarøe, Coren L Apicella, Michael Bang Petersen, Shaneikiah T Bickham, Alexander Bolyanatz, Brenda Chavez, Delphine De Smet, Cinthya Díaz, Jana Fančovičová, Michal Fux, Paulina Giraldo-Perez, Anning Hu, Shanmukh V Kamble, Tatsuya Kameda, Norman P Li, Francesca R LubertiPavol Prokop, Katinka Quintelier, Brooke A Scelza, Hyun Jung Shin, Montserrat Soler, Stefan Stieger, Wataru Toyokawa, Ellis A van den Hende, Hugo Viciana-Asensio, Saliha Elif Yildizhan, Jose C Yong, Tessa Yuditha, Yi Zhou

Research output: Journal article (peer-reviewed) › Journal article

87 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Laughter is a nonverbal vocal expression that often communicates positive affect and cooperative intent in humans. Temporally coincident laughter occurring within groups is a potentially rich cue of affiliation to overhearers. We examined listeners' judgments of affiliation based on brief, decontextualized instances of colaughter between either established friends or recently acquainted strangers. In a sample of 966 participants from 24 societies, people reliably distinguished friends from strangers with an accuracy of 53-67%. Acoustic analyses of the individual laughter segments revealed that, across cultures, listeners' judgments were consistently predicted by voicing dynamics, suggesting perceptual sensitivity to emotionally triggered spontaneous production. Colaughter affords rapid and accurate appraisals of affiliation that transcend cultural and linguistic boundaries, and may constitute a universal means of signaling cooperative relationships.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	4682-4687
Number of pages	6
Journal	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume	113
Issue number	17
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1524993113
Publication status	Published - 26 Apr 2016
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Adult
Affect
Auditory Perception/physiology
Cooperative Behavior
Female
Friends/ethnology
Humans
Internationality
Laughter/psychology
Male
Nonverbal Communication/psychology
Young Adult

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10.1073/pnas.1524993113

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Bryant, G. A., Fessler, D. M. T., Fusaroli, R., Clint, E., Aarøe, L., Apicella, C. L., Petersen, M. B., Bickham, S. T., Bolyanatz, A., Chavez, B., De Smet, D., Díaz, C., Fančovičová, J., Fux, M., Giraldo-Perez, P., Hu, A., Kamble, S. V., Kameda, T., Li, N. P., ... Zhou, Y. (2016). Detecting affiliation in colaughter across 24 societies. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 113(17), 4682-4687. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1524993113

@article{70700723efbd41c5a17ea73d824a1b88,

title = "Detecting affiliation in colaughter across 24 societies",

abstract = "Laughter is a nonverbal vocal expression that often communicates positive affect and cooperative intent in humans. Temporally coincident laughter occurring within groups is a potentially rich cue of affiliation to overhearers. We examined listeners' judgments of affiliation based on brief, decontextualized instances of colaughter between either established friends or recently acquainted strangers. In a sample of 966 participants from 24 societies, people reliably distinguished friends from strangers with an accuracy of 53-67%. Acoustic analyses of the individual laughter segments revealed that, across cultures, listeners' judgments were consistently predicted by voicing dynamics, suggesting perceptual sensitivity to emotionally triggered spontaneous production. Colaughter affords rapid and accurate appraisals of affiliation that transcend cultural and linguistic boundaries, and may constitute a universal means of signaling cooperative relationships.",

keywords = "Adult, Affect, Auditory Perception/physiology, Cooperative Behavior, Female, Friends/ethnology, Humans, Internationality, Laughter/psychology, Male, Nonverbal Communication/psychology, Young Adult",

author = "Bryant, {Gregory A} and Fessler, {Daniel M T} and Riccardo Fusaroli and Edward Clint and Lene Aar{\o}e and Apicella, {Coren L} and Petersen, {Michael Bang} and Bickham, {Shaneikiah T} and Alexander Bolyanatz and Brenda Chavez and {De Smet}, Delphine and Cinthya D{\'i}az and Jana Fan{\v c}ovi{\v c}ov{\'a} and Michal Fux and Paulina Giraldo-Perez and Anning Hu and Kamble, {Shanmukh V} and Tatsuya Kameda and Li, {Norman P} and Luberti, {Francesca R} and Pavol Prokop and Katinka Quintelier and Scelza, {Brooke A} and Shin, {Hyun Jung} and Montserrat Soler and Stefan Stieger and Wataru Toyokawa and {van den Hende}, {Ellis A} and Hugo Viciana-Asensio and Yildizhan, {Saliha Elif} and Yong, {Jose C} and Tessa Yuditha and Yi Zhou",

year = "2016",

month = apr,

day = "26",

doi = "10.1073/pnas.1524993113",

language = "English",

volume = "113",

pages = "4682--4687",

journal = "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America",

issn = "0027-8424",

publisher = "National Academy of Sciences",

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}

Bryant, GA, Fessler, DMT, Fusaroli, R, Clint, E, Aarøe, L, Apicella, CL, Petersen, MB, Bickham, ST, Bolyanatz, A, Chavez, B, De Smet, D, Díaz, C, Fančovičová, J, Fux, M, Giraldo-Perez, P, Hu, A, Kamble, SV, Kameda, T, Li, NP, Luberti, FR, Prokop, P, Quintelier, K, Scelza, BA, Shin, HJ, Soler, M, Stieger, S, Toyokawa, W, van den Hende, EA, Viciana-Asensio, H, Yildizhan, SE, Yong, JC, Yuditha, T & Zhou, Y 2016, 'Detecting affiliation in colaughter across 24 societies', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 113, no. 17, pp. 4682-4687. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1524993113

TY - JOUR

T1 - Detecting affiliation in colaughter across 24 societies

AU - Bryant, Gregory A

AU - Fessler, Daniel M T

AU - Fusaroli, Riccardo

AU - Clint, Edward

AU - Aarøe, Lene

AU - Apicella, Coren L

AU - Petersen, Michael Bang

AU - Bickham, Shaneikiah T

AU - Bolyanatz, Alexander

AU - Chavez, Brenda

AU - De Smet, Delphine

AU - Díaz, Cinthya

AU - Fančovičová, Jana

AU - Fux, Michal

AU - Giraldo-Perez, Paulina

AU - Hu, Anning

AU - Kamble, Shanmukh V

AU - Kameda, Tatsuya

AU - Li, Norman P

AU - Luberti, Francesca R

AU - Prokop, Pavol

AU - Quintelier, Katinka

AU - Scelza, Brooke A

AU - Shin, Hyun Jung

AU - Soler, Montserrat

AU - Stieger, Stefan

AU - Toyokawa, Wataru

AU - van den Hende, Ellis A

AU - Viciana-Asensio, Hugo

AU - Yildizhan, Saliha Elif

AU - Yong, Jose C

AU - Yuditha, Tessa

AU - Zhou, Yi

PY - 2016/4/26

Y1 - 2016/4/26

N2 - Laughter is a nonverbal vocal expression that often communicates positive affect and cooperative intent in humans. Temporally coincident laughter occurring within groups is a potentially rich cue of affiliation to overhearers. We examined listeners' judgments of affiliation based on brief, decontextualized instances of colaughter between either established friends or recently acquainted strangers. In a sample of 966 participants from 24 societies, people reliably distinguished friends from strangers with an accuracy of 53-67%. Acoustic analyses of the individual laughter segments revealed that, across cultures, listeners' judgments were consistently predicted by voicing dynamics, suggesting perceptual sensitivity to emotionally triggered spontaneous production. Colaughter affords rapid and accurate appraisals of affiliation that transcend cultural and linguistic boundaries, and may constitute a universal means of signaling cooperative relationships.

AB - Laughter is a nonverbal vocal expression that often communicates positive affect and cooperative intent in humans. Temporally coincident laughter occurring within groups is a potentially rich cue of affiliation to overhearers. We examined listeners' judgments of affiliation based on brief, decontextualized instances of colaughter between either established friends or recently acquainted strangers. In a sample of 966 participants from 24 societies, people reliably distinguished friends from strangers with an accuracy of 53-67%. Acoustic analyses of the individual laughter segments revealed that, across cultures, listeners' judgments were consistently predicted by voicing dynamics, suggesting perceptual sensitivity to emotionally triggered spontaneous production. Colaughter affords rapid and accurate appraisals of affiliation that transcend cultural and linguistic boundaries, and may constitute a universal means of signaling cooperative relationships.

KW - Adult

KW - Affect

KW - Auditory Perception/physiology

KW - Cooperative Behavior

KW - Female

KW - Friends/ethnology

KW - Humans

KW - Internationality

KW - Laughter/psychology

KW - Male

KW - Nonverbal Communication/psychology

KW - Young Adult

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84964767112&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1073/pnas.1524993113

DO - 10.1073/pnas.1524993113

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 27071114

SN - 0027-8424

VL - 113

SP - 4682

EP - 4687

JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

IS - 17

ER -

Detecting affiliation in colaughter across 24 societies

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Keywords

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