Prior research suggests that laughter is correlated with resilience and well-being. To date, there is little research on the subsequent social benefits following laughter with another person. We hypothesized that laughing with another person would be associated with greater social rewards in subsequent social interactions. Using a two-week daily
diary study with 162 people (68% women), we collected data on 5510 face-to-face social interactions in everyday life. We found that laughing with another person during an interaction predicted greater intimacy, positive emotions, and enjoyment in the subsequent social interaction. There was no evidence for the reverse direction, as intimacy, positive emotions, and enjoyment failed to predict laughter in subsequent social interactions. As for specificity, laughter was associated with subsequent intimacy and positive emotions even after accounting for the variance attributable to enjoyment felt when socializing. As for robustness, laughter with another person had the same effect on subsequent interactions regardless of whether interacting with the same person or a new person.
In summary, besides being immediately pleasurable, laughing with social interaction partners influences the likelihood of future social rewards. This study adds to theory and research suggesting that laughing is an important social bonding mechanism.
