10 Varieties of Laughter

New parents quickly realize that babies have a variety of cries. One type signals hunger, another indicates a dirty diaper, and there’s also the cry that simply means the baby wants some attention.

Parents tend not to overthink the meaning behind their child's laughter (unless it's clear they're having a sibling squabble). In fact, many people rarely pause to analyze the subtle differences in laughter.

The late Robert Provine, a renowned laughter expert and professor emeritus of neurobiology and psychology at the University of Maryland, once stated that laughter is fundamentally a social phenomenon, something that deeply connects humans with each other [source: Provine].

His research showed that people are 30 percent more likely to laugh in a social setting where it's appropriate, compared to when they're alone with humor-inducing content [source: Provine]. In other words, you’re more likely to laugh with friends while watching a comedy than if you were watching it by yourself.

Although there are countless ways to laugh—giggles, guffaws, chuckles, and cackles—it turns out we laugh for a variety of reasons, many of which are quite unusual. In fact, 90 percent of the reasons we laugh have nothing to do with jokes or humor [source: Trump].

So, what are the different types of laughter and the reasons behind all these chuckles?

10: Etiquette Laughter

At the end of a long day, you end up in the elevator with your boss. Instead of discussing your recent accomplishments, you unexpectedly find yourself chuckling at everything he says.

Even though you might think you came across as silly, you likely did just fine. People often rely on laughter to bond with others, so whether with your boss or friends, we tend to laugh at things that really aren’t that funny.

In his study of laughter, Provine discovered that people often laugh at completely ordinary statements like "Can I join you?" or "See you later" [source: Provine]. Laughter may have emerged in our ancestors even before fully developed speech, serving as a way to communicate and show agreement.

If you're aiming to climb the corporate ladder, you're not alone in laughing at your boss. We often laugh with those who can offer us something, which is why a group of college students might chuckle at a professor's poor joke, whereas a job candidate's attempts at humor might not land well with those who are already established in their careers.

9: Laughter That Spreads

Picture yourself having dinner with friends. One person cracks a joke, triggering laughter in the next person, which sparks another, and so on. Could laughter spread like a virus? It's highly likely.

In an experiment, Provine discovered that nearly 50% of his 128 undergraduate students responded with laughter when exposed to a simulated laugh, even though they knew the laugh came from an artificial simulator [source: Provine].

Provine suggests that contagious laughter might imply humans have an innate 'laugh detector.' In essence, people seem naturally inclined to laugh upon hearing laughter, akin to how yawns spread.

8: Nervous Laughter

There are moments when we must maintain a sense of dignity and composure, such as when presenting to a CEO or attending a funeral. Ironically, these are often the very occasions when uncontrollable nervous laughter tends to surface.

When we feel anxious, we sometimes laugh unconsciously in an effort to relieve stress and calm our nerves. It’s a kind of emotional defense mechanism, though it often ends up making the situation more uncomfortable.

Nervous laughter is often seen as insincere and tends to emerge in stressful, anxiety-filled situations. While it can help alleviate some of that tension, it's not a habit you want to form. Inappropriate laughter can lead to disapproval from others, leaving you feeling even more stressed than before.

7: Belly Laughter

Belly laughter is often regarded as the most genuine form of laughter. It’s also the hardest to achieve. Why? Because it takes something truly hilarious to make us laugh so hard that we clutch our stomachs and gasp for air.

However, true belly laughter can vary from person to person. A study from Vanderbilt University revealed that men tend to grunt or snort when something strikes them as funny, while women are more likely to laugh with giggles or chuckles [source: Vanderbilt].

It’s valuable to recognize what makes you laugh because it could potentially have life-saving benefits. In his 1979 book, "Anatomy of an Illness," Norman Cousins shares how laughter helped him battle a terminal illness.

"Ten minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anesthetic effect, providing me with at least two hours of pain-free sleep," Cousins wrote [source: Colburn]. Cousins turned to the Marx Brothers and "Candid Camera" and made a full recovery. He passed away in 1990, almost 11 years after writing the book.

6: Silent Laughter

Those working in open office environments might think they have mastered silent laughter. However, consciously practicing it can have real health benefits, as it engages the same deep breathing techniques associated with belly laughter.

Cheryl Ann Oberg, a therapeutic clown, teaches sick children the art of silent laughter. She shared with Canadian Living that silent laughter has helped the children fall back asleep after waking from bad dreams [source: Van Dyk]. This technique provides the calming effects of rhythmic breathing without disturbing their roommates.

Silent laughter is also a practice in laughter yoga and laughter therapy, often referred to as joker's laughter. To try it for yourself, stretch your face into a smile like the Joker from Batman, then let your belly take over, pushing air in and out as though you were laughing out loud.

5: Stress-relieving Laughter

Let's face it, life can be challenging. Whether you're racing against a tight deadline with your boss hovering over you or stuck in rush-hour traffic with your car's A/C malfunctioning, the end of a workday doesn't always bring instant relief. If your muscles are still tense, it's a clear sign you're still carrying the stress of the day.

Stress is one of the primary reasons to seek out humor. Laughter is an effective remedy for stress [source: Van Dyk].

Stress accumulates tension in the body, and that tension has to be released somewhere. More often than not, it's stored in the muscles.

So, what's the solution? Sure, you could opt for a massage, but have you ever thought about a hearty laugh? Stress-relieving laughter takes many forms, but it's typically an outburst, much like the kind of belly laughter that leaves you gasping.

4: Pigeon Laughter

Imagine you're walking with a friend when something unexpected falls from the sky: pigeon droppings. You're hit, but your friend escapes unharmed. While this incident may leave you fuming, your friend can't help but burst into laughter. Is this what we call pigeon laughter?

Not exactly, unless your friend is laughing in a very specific manner. Pigeon laughter, often used in laughter therapy or laughter yoga, involves laughing without opening your mouth. Keeping your lips closed creates a humming sound, much like the noise a pigeon makes.

This sound has also been likened to the hum of bees, so if you're still upset about those pesky pigeons dropping their poop on you, feel free to refer to it as bees' laughter.

3: Snorting Laughter

When you're not consciously trying to control your laughter, some kind of sound usually escapes when something tickles your funny bone. Most laughs, after all, are simply a sequence of vocal ha-has or ho-hos.

But if you're one of the roughly 25% of women or 33% of men who laugh through their nose, then you’re a snorter [source: Vanderbilt].

We all had that one classmate in elementary school, the one who snorted milk through his nose when the class clown cracked a joke in the cafeteria. You know exactly what kind of laughter this was.

If you find yourself in this situation, you're probably either inhaling or exhaling air through your nose when you laugh. There's nothing wrong with it, but you might want to take smaller sips when your friends try to surprise you with a new joke.

2: Canned Laughter

The next type of laughter we're talking about isn't something you’ll find in the aisles of a grocery store. Canned laughter is simply another term for the 'laugh track.' It's real laughter, but the twist is that it's pre-recorded and added to the sound mix of TV shows.

But it turns out canned laughter does its job. A 2019 study published in the journal Current Biology revealed that even the worst jokes (and we mean truly awful ones) get a stronger reaction when there's canned laughter involved. However, as the internet grew, viewers became more aware of this tactic, recognizing it as an emotional manipulation. That's one of the reasons many sitcoms today have abandoned the laugh track.

1: Cruel Laughter

Chances are, your mom warned you that "It's not nice to laugh at someone else's expense." Sadly, whether you were the one laughing or the one being mocked, you've probably crossed that line at some point.

While we often associate cruel laughter with a lack of empathy, it's been embedded in society for centuries. For instance, in the Middle Ages, there was a popular custom of mocking others through poetry called flyting. A well-known example is "The Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedie," which holds the distinction of being the earliest recorded usage of both a scatological insult and the F-word. Surely laughter followed.

Laughter even plays a significant role in ancient literature. It is mentioned multiple times in Homer's "Iliad" and also appears in the Bible.