Psychology of laughter

Laughter is an audible expression or the appearance of happiness, or an inward feeling of joy. We can hear it every day in our environment. Laughter is universal. it has nothing to do with what language we speak, which culture we were raised in, or what our religious faith is. We all laugh. The study of humor and laughter, and its psychological and physiological effects on the human body, is called gelotology.

 

First of all, scientists argue that laughter probably is genetic. Also, they found that infant start laughting at about four months of age. A very rare neurological condition has been observed whereby the sufferer is unable to laugh out loud, a condition known as aphonogelia.

 

Secondly, here is five different types of laughter. One of them is etiquette laughter - starts with a smile and it can be quite restrained and easily managed. One more is pigeon laughter - requires you to take a deep inhalation with the mouth shut and produce laughing sounds like the hum of a pigeon. Nervous laughter - during times of stress and anxiety, we often laugh in a subconscious attempt to reduce stress and calm down. Silent or soundless laughter - inhale gently through the nose with mouth closed. The last one is belly laughter - when you open your mouth, you let go and laugh loudly.

 

Thirdly, common reasons for laughter are sensations of joy and humor. But it is not the only one reason. Sigmund Freud summarized it in his theory that laughter releases tension and "psychic energy". This theory is one of the justifications of the beliefs that laughter is beneficial for one's health.

 

Moreover, laughter releasis stress, has a direct influence on certain hormone secretion of our body, helps to immune system, can improve memory condition. On the other hand, the joyous discovery that ten minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anesthetic effect and would give us at least two hours of pain-free sleep.

 

Furthermore, There is well documented and ongoing research in laughter therapy. A client's laughter triggers are identified such as people in their lives that make them laugh, things from childhood, situations, movies, jokes, comedians, basically anything that makes them laugh. Based on the information provided by the client, the clinician creates a personal humor profile to aid in the laughter therapy. In this one on one setting, the client is taught basic exercises that can be practiced. The intent of the exercises is to remind the importance of relationships and social support. It is important the clinician is sensitive to what the client perceives as humorous.

 

To sum up, laughter is an expression of amusement. People who are 'up' positive personalities and laugh a lot generally have less physical problems than those who are depressed. Laughter therapy boosts the interferon levels of the immune system which helps the system's ability to fight illness and escalates healing. Laughter decreases stress hormones that constrict blood vessels and suppress immune activity.

 

Refferences:

http://health.howstuffworks.com/human-nature/emotions/happiness/science/5-types-of-laughter.htm

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,189755,00.html

http://changingminds.org/techniques/humor/laughter.htm

http://www.wellsphere.com/complementary-alternative-medicine-article/do-you-know-the-types-of-laughter/578264

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laughter

http://empower-you.blogspot.com/2008/07/do-you-know-types-of-laughter.html

http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200011/the-science-laughter

http://hubpages.com/hub/Whats-So-Funny-The-Psychology-Behind-Jokes-and-Laughter

http://www.punyajokes.com/laughter_therapy.htm

http://fineartamerica.com/blogs/the-paroxysm-of-laughter.html

http://www.stbotanica.co.uk/magazine/advantages-of-laughter/

http://www.teehee.com/Reasons.html

http://crystalinks.com/laughter.html

Psychology of conflict

We all know what are the conflicts and we all have it in every day life. But here are other aspects that is not known by each other. So i want to show you different sides of this theme.

 

Firstly, a conflict exists when the reduction of one motivating stimulus involves an increase in another, so that a new adjustment is demanded. A conflict is more than a mere disagreement - it is a situation in which people perceive a threat (physical, emotional, power, status, etc.) to their well-being.

 

Secondly, conflicts styles is a way to meet one's needs in a dispute but may impact other people in different ways. One of them is competing in which one's own needs are advocated over the needs of others. The next one is accommodating – the opposite of competing. One more style is avoiding in which is a common response to the negative perception of conflict. Also, here is compromising - an approach to conflict in which people gain and give in a series of tradeoffs. And the last one is collaborating that requires assertive communication and cooperation in order to achieve a better solution than either individual could have achieved alone.

 

Moreover, here are three types of responses to conflict. Emotional responses are the feelings we experience in conflict, ranging from anger and fear to despair and confusion, cognitive responses are our ideas and thoughts about a conflict, often present as inner voices or internal observers in the midst of a situation, and physical responses are similar to those we experience in high-anxiety situations, and they may be managed through stress management techniques.

 

Furthermore, we have three choices how to resolute a conflict. It can be win-win, where both parties get what they want, win-lose where one party gets what they want, or lose-lose where both parties don't get what they want.

 

Finally, here are both advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages: Spirit of competition drives all to excel to higher levels, as weaknesses are exposed and creative solutions are proposed. Also, where people disagree about the essence of the discussion or the directives of a figure in authority, can be constructive. Conflict brings all sides of an issue into the open.

Disadvantage: The competition gets so fierce that people forget they are ultimately on the same team, and opposing groups destroy each other, hence destroying the whole community or country. Moreover, conflict may stir passions in a dormant environment, creating a newfound sense of motivation and in extreme cases, conflict can even become violent.

 

To sum up, i believe that conflict is not the best way to search a solution and try to be at the risk of relationship with other people.

 

Refferences:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict_(narrative)

http://www.ohrd.wisc.edu/onlinetraining/resolution/aboutwhatisit.htm

http://www.ppu.org.uk/learn/conflict/st_conflict.html

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Advantages_and_disadvantages_of_conflict