| Title |
Effects of laughter and relaxation on discomfort thresholds
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Journal of Behavioral Medicine, April 1987
|
| DOI | 10.1007/bf00846422 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Rosemary Cogan, Dennis Cogan, William Waltz, Melissa McCue |
| Abstract |
Two experiments were conducted to test the proposal that laughter is a pain antagonist. In Experiment I, thresholds for pressure-induced discomfort of 20 male and 20 female subjects were measured after each subject listened to a 20-min-long laughter-inducing, relaxation-inducing, or dull-narrative audio tape or no tape. Discomfort thresholds were higher for subjects in the laughter- and the relaxation-inducing conditions. In Experiment II, 40 female subjects were matched for pressure-induced discomfort thresholds. Their discomfort thresholds were measured after they listened to a laughter-inducing, interesting narrative, or uninteresting narrative audio tape, completed a multiplication task, or experienced no intervention. Discomfort thresholds increased for subjects in the laughter-inducing condition. Laughter, and not simply distraction, reduces discomfort sensitivity, suggesting that laughter has potential as an intervention strategy for the reduction of clinical discomfort. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 2 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 1 | 50% |
| Unknown | 1 | 50% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Scientists | 1 | 50% |
| Members of the public | 1 | 50% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 69 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 2 | 3% |
| Germany | 1 | 1% |
| France | 1 | 1% |
| Unknown | 65 | 94% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 15 | 22% |
| Researcher | 13 | 19% |
| Student > Master | 9 | 13% |
| Other | 4 | 6% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 3 | 4% |
| Other | 11 | 16% |
| Unknown | 14 | 20% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Psychology | 29 | 42% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 8 | 12% |
| Social Sciences | 5 | 7% |
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 3 | 4% |
| Computer Science | 3 | 4% |
| Other | 7 | 10% |
| Unknown | 14 | 20% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 22. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 01 June 2017.
All research outputs
#1,526,759
of 23,342,092 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Behavioral Medicine
#130
of 1,088 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#158
of 12,098 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Journal of Behavioral Medicine
#1
of 5 outputs
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So far Altmetric has tracked 1,088 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 14.7. This one has done well, scoring higher than 88% of its peers.
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