Katagelasticism is a psychological condition in which a person excessively enjoys laughing at others. Katagelasticists actively seek and establish situations in which they can laugh at others (at the expense of these people). There is a broad variety of things that katagelasticists would do—starting from harmless
pranks
A practical joke, or prank, is a mischievous trick played on someone, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort.Marsh, Moira. 2015. ''Practically Joking''. Logan: Utah State University Press. ...
or
word play
Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, phonet ...
s to truly embarrassing and even harmful, mean-spirited jokes.
They would be of the opinion that laughing at others is part of the daily life and if others do not like being laughed at, they should just fight back.
[ For katagelasticists, it is fun laughing at others and there is almost nothing that might hinder them from doing so. For them, some people might even provoke getting laughed at and deserve being laughed at.][ This condition often makes it difficult for sufferers to gain and maintain acquaintances and romantic partners.][
The term was coined by Christian F. Hempelmann and Sean Harrigan]Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
for "mocker".
Research
The first academic paper to investigate this phenomenon was published in 2009.[ Along with ]gelotophobia
Gelotophobia is a fear of being laughed at, a type of social phobia. 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 s ...
and gelotophilia
Gelotophilia is the joy of being laughed at. Gelotophiles are people who actively seek and establish situations in which others may laugh at them. They gain joy from these situations and do not feel embarrassed. Gelotophiles speak frankly about mis ...
, it can be measured through a questionnaire that consists of 45 questions (the PhoPhiKat-45; the PhoPhiKat-30 is a short form that consists of 30 items). This is a reliable and valid instrument that has been used in a variety of studies.
here
Gelotophobia, gelotophilia, and katagelasticism describe three different stances towards laughter and laughing at. Empirical studies with the PhoPhiKat-45 show that people can not at the same time fear and like being laughed at (i.e., be gelotophobes and gelotophiles at the same time). However, there is at least a subgroup of gelotophobes that enjoys laughing at others, despite knowing how harmful this can be.[ Finally, gelotophilia and katagelasticism are positively related; that is, those who enjoy being laughed at might also enjoy laughing at others.][
]
See also
*Schadenfreude
Schadenfreude (; ; 'harm-joy') is the experience of pleasure, joy, or self-satisfaction that comes from learning of or witnessing the troubles, failures, or humiliation of another. It is a borrowed word from German, with no direct translation ...
– pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others
References
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Further reading
* Proyer, R. T., & Ruch, W. (2010)
Dispositions towards ridicule and being laughed at: Current research on gelotophobia, gelotophilia, and katagelasticism (Editorial to Special Issue).
Psychological Test and Assessment Modeling, 52(1), 49–59.
External links
Gelotophobia Assessment and Research Association Website
Website on Gelotophobia, by Tracey Platt
Special Issue on Gelotophobia in Humor: International Journal of Humor Research (1-2/2008)
When Humor Humiliates, by Susan Guidos (Science news)
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
Anxiety disorders
Laughter