Gender differences on laugh-related traits: A cross-sectional study

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Developmental Psychology

Background:

• Individual responses to laughter vary, including fear (gelotophobia), enjoyment (gelotophilia), and laughing at others (katagelasticism).
• Prior research suggests men are more prone to laughing at others, with no observed gender differences in gelotophobia or gelotophilia.
• Socioemotional selectivity theory posits that older individuals attend less to negative stimuli, suggesting age may influence gender differences in laughter responses.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the moderating effect of age on gender differences in gelotophobia, gelotophilia, and katagelasticism.
• To explore developmental variations in laughter-related traits across different age groups and genders.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 1247 participants aged 11 to 66 years.
• Data collection focused on laugh-related traits: gelotophobia, gelotophilia, and katagelasticism.
• Statistical analysis examined the moderation effect of age on gender differences in these traits.

Main Results:

• Men exhibited a higher tendency for katagelasticism, while no significant gender differences were found for gelotophobia or gelotophilia.
• Age moderated the relationship between gender and both gelotophobia and katagelasticism.
• Male adolescents reported higher gelotophobia and katagelasticism than female adolescents; this pattern was not observed in middle-aged adults.

Conclusions:

• Age acts as a significant moderator influencing gender differences in laugh-related traits.
• The fear of being laughed at (gelotophobia) is particularly affected by age during early adolescence.
• Gender differences in laughing at others (katagelasticism) diminish in middle adulthood.