Gelotophobia is a

fear Fear is an intensely unpleasant emotion in response to perceiving or recognizing a danger or threat. Fear causes physiological changes that may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the threat. Fear ...

of being laughed at, a type of

social phobia Social anxiety disorder (SAD), also known as social phobia, is an anxiety disorder characterized by sentiments of fear and anxiety in social situations, causing considerable distress and impaired ability to function in at least some aspects ...

. While most people do not like being laughed at, in his clinical observations, German psychotherapist and psychoanalyst Michael Titze (1996) discovered that some of his patients seemed to be primarily worried about being laughed at. They tended to scan their environment for signs of laughter and

ridicule Mockery or mocking is the act of insulting or making light of a person or other thing, sometimes merely by taunting, but often by making a caricature, purporting to engage in imitation in a way that highlights unflattering characteristics. Mocker ...

. Furthermore, they reported that they had the impression of being ridiculous themselves. Additionally, Titze observed a specific movement pattern among them when they thought they were being laughed at—awkward, wooden movements that resembled those of wooden puppets. He described this state as "

Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...

-syndrome". Titze, M. (1996)
"The Pinocchio Complex: Overcoming the fear of laughter"
''Humor & Health Journal'' 5, 1-11.

Causes

From the clinical observations a model of the causes and consequences of gelotophobia was drawn up so that the condition could be studied scientifically. The model claims that gelotophobia can be caused by any one of three things at different stages of development: The putative causes of gelotophobia: * In infancy: development of primary shame failure to develop an interpersonal bridge (e.g. unsupportive infant–caregiver interactions). * In childhood and youth: repeated traumatic experiences of not being taken seriously or being laughed at/ridiculed (e.g.

bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an imba ...

), or online bullying (e.g

cyberbullying Cyberbullying or cyberharassment is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic means. Cyberbullying and cyberharassment are also known as online bullying. It has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers, as the digital ...

) * In adulthood: intense traumatic experience of being laughed at or ridiculed (e.g.

mockery Mockery or mocking is the act of insulting or making light of a person or other thing, sometimes merely by taunting, but often by making a caricature, purporting to engage in imitation in a way that highlights unflattering characteristics. Mocker ...

). The consequences of gelotophobia: * Social withdrawal to avoid being ridiculed. * Appearing 'cold as ice'/humourless. * Psychosomatic disturbances, e.g. blushing,

tension headache Tension headache, also known as stress headache, or tension-type headache (TTH), is the most common type of primary headache. The pain can radiate from the lower back of the head, the neck, eyes or other muscle groups in the body typically affecti ...

, trembling, dizziness, sleep disturbances. * Demonstrating 'Pinocchio Syndrome': clumsy, 'agelotic' face, 'wooden puppet' appearance. * Lack of liveliness, spontaneity, joy. * Inability to experience humour/laughter as relaxing and joyful social experiences. * Anger when being laughed at by other people (in some cases, this results in violent attacks on the people who were laughing). Later this model was revised and expanded.

Diagnosis

There is a fifteen-item questionnaire for the subjective assessment of gelotophobia, e.g. the GELOPH<15>. This questionnaire has been used to show that gelotophobia exists, to varying degrees, in a normal population.Ruch, W., & Proyer, R. T. (2008).
The fear of being laughed at: Individual and group differences in gelotophobia
. ''

Humor Humour (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humorism, humoral medicine of the ancient Gre ...

'', 21(1), 47-67. It has been found on every continent and has, so far, had samples taken from 72 countries and the GELOPH<15> has been translated into over 42 different languages. Different countries vary in the number of people within the population, who are gelotophobes.Proyer, R.T., Ruch, W., Ali, N.S., Al-Olimat, H.S., Andualem Adal, T., Aziz Ansari S et al. (2009). "Breaking ground in cross-cultural research on the fear of being laughed at (gelotophobia): multi-national study involving 73 countries". ''Humor'', 22, 253-279. The sociologist

Christie Davies John Christopher Hughes "Christie" Davies (25 December 1941 – 26 August 2017) was a British sociologist, professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Reading, England, the author of many articles and books on criminology, the sociolog ...

predicts a higher prevalence of gelotophobia in

hierarchically A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an important ...

organized societies where the main means of social control is shame. Research into gelotophobia using the GELOPH scales shows that empirically, the condition exists outside of people who seek

therapy A therapy or medical treatment (often abbreviated tx, Tx, or Tx) is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a medical diagnosis. As a rule, each therapy has indications and contraindications. There are many different ...

due to experiencing a problematic fear of being laughed at. In the first studies, gelotophobes were distinguished from other people with shame-based problems and non-shame based neurotics and samples of a normal population. Basically, this means that even though gelotophobia shares similar problems, high scores were also found for these criteria in individuals with

Asperger's syndrome Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's, is a former neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behav ...

and

Cluster A Personality disorders (PD) are a class of mental disorders characterized by enduring maladaptive patterns of behavior, cognition, and inner experience, exhibited across many contexts and deviating from those accepted by the individual's culture ...

personality disorders. The fear of being laughed at has also been studied among children and adolescents using modifications of these diagnostic instruments

Emotions

Although at face value the emotions relating to gelotophobia would be predominantly fear, there is a distinct interplay with three dominant emotions:Platt, T. & Ruch, W. (2009). "The emotions of gelotophobes: Shameful, fearful and joyless?" ''Humor'', 22, 91-110. low levels of

joy The word joy refers to the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune, and is typically associated with feelings of intense, long lasting happiness. Dictionary definitions Dictionary definitions of joy typically include a sense of ...

, high levels of

, and high levels of

shame Shame is an unpleasant self-conscious emotion often associated with negative self-evaluation; motivation to quit; and feelings of pain, exposure, distrust, powerlessness, and worthlessness. Definition Shame is a discrete, basic emotion, d ...

. More importantly, where shame in a typical week exceeds joy, gelotophobia is more likely to develop. Gelotophobes say that they are bad at regulating their emotions, and they more easily pick up the negative moods of other people. They also suppress expression of their emotions and do not share their feelings readily with others.

Perception and personality

Gelotophobes do not have the ability to understand the difference between playful

teasing Teasing has multiple meanings and uses. In human interactions, teasing exists in three major forms: ''playful'', ''hurtful'', and ''educative''. Teasing can have a variety of effects, depending on how it is used and its intended effect. When teas ...

and crueller forms such as bullying

. This means that even if someone is trying to be friendly and playful, a gelotophobe will feel apprehensive and mistake the interaction for ridicule. It can also mean that people may feel they are being bullied when in fact they are not. Gelotophobes are often located in both the Eysenck PEN and the Big Five models of personality. Gelotophobia correlates highly with

introversion The traits of extraversion (also spelled extroversion Retrieved 2018-02-21.) and introversion are a central dimension in some human personality theories. The terms ''introversion'' and ''extraversion'' were introduced into psychology by Carl J ...

and

neuroticism In the study of psychology, neuroticism has been considered a fundamental personality trait. For example, in the Big Five approach to personality trait theory, individuals with high scores for neuroticism are more likely than average to be moody ...

, and on older P-scales, gelotophobes score higher in

psychoticism Psychoticism is one of the three traits used by the psychologist Hans Eysenck in his P–E–N model (psychoticism, extraversion and neuroticism) model of personality. Nature Psychoticism is conceptually similar to the ''constraint'' factor i ...

. The dimensional assessment of personality pathology, a

DSM DSM or dsm may refer to: Science and technology * Deep space maneuver * Design structure matrix or dependency structure matrix, a representation of a system or project * Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ** DSM-5, the fifth ed ...

personality disorder instrument, showed that those with a fear of being laughed at tend to be socially

avoidant Avoidant personality disorder (AvPD) is a Cluster C personality disorder characterized by excessive social anxiety and inhibition, fear of intimacy (despite an intense desire for it), severe feelings of inadequacy and inferiority, and an overrelia ...

and

submissive Deference (also called submission or passivity) is the condition of submitting to the espoused, legitimate influence of one's superior or superiors. Deference implies a yielding or submitting to the judgment of a recognized superior, out of re ...

, as well as having

identity Identity may refer to: * Identity document * Identity (philosophy) * Identity (social science) * Identity (mathematics) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Identity'' (1987 film), an Iranian film * ''Identity'' (2003 film), ...

problems. Social

withdrawal Withdrawal means "an act of taking out" and may refer to: * Anchoresis (withdrawal from the world for religious or ethical reasons) * ''Coitus interruptus'' (the withdrawal method) * Drug withdrawal * Social withdrawal * Taking of money from a ban ...

and suspiciousness most frequently predicted gelotophobia.

Strengths, intelligence and humour ability

A number of tests show that gelotophobes often underestimate their own potential and achievements. Gelotophobes tend to see themselves as less

virtuous Virtue ( la, virtus) is morality, moral excellence. A virtue is a trait or quality that is deemed to be morally good and thus is Value (ethics), valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being. In other words, it is a behavior that sh ...

than people who know them. Similarly, in an intelligence study, gelotophobes consistently underestimated their intellectual performance by as much as 6 IQ points.Proyer, R. T., & Ruch, W. (2009). "How virtuous are gelotophobes? Self- and Peer-reported character strengths among those who fear being laughed at". ''Humor'', 22, 145-163. Gelotophobes have a different experience of laughter: it does not lift their mood or make them more cheerful. They personally characterise their own humour as being inept, yet once again, tests show that they are no different from other people at making witty remarks and humour.

Politics

Paul Lewis (Boston College, US) speculated whether political gelotophobia might affect elections in the US ("The twin fears of being effectively mocked or ineffective in mocking others oo harsh, blunt, tastelessled candidates to aggressive and proactive strategies oing on TV to show they can take a joke, be funny—anything to avoid being rendered pathetically ridiculous or inappropriately derisive) [p. 42, conference abstract from the 2009 conference of the International Society for Humor Studie
ISHS
in Long Beach, California]; Sociologist

, who is also president of the ISHS, comments satirically on the results of recent elections in the UK. He noticed that losers in those elections were frequently bald—"To be bald is to suffer from gelotophobia, to fear being laughed at; to fear being laughed at is to fear disorder; to fear disorder is to embrace absolutism".Socialaffairsunit.org.uk
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References

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External links

Website on gelotophobia, by Tracey Platt

Special Issue on gelotophobia in Humor: International Journal of Humor Research (1-2/2008)

Website on multi-nation study, hosted by University of Zurich

Special issue in Psychological Test and Assessment modeling entitled Dispositions towards ridicule and being laughed at: Current research on gelotophobia, gelotophilia, and katagelasticism; open access
Laughter Phobias