Naturalistic observations of smiling and laughter in human group interactions

Although smiling and laughter have received considerable attention from researchers, little is known about the way they are displayed in naturally occurring group interactions. This aspect could be crucial if we want to understand the function of affiliative behaviours in social relationships. Natur...

Olles dieđut

Bibliográfalaš dieđut
Váldodahkkit: Mehu, M, Dunbar, R
Materiálatiipa: Journal article
Giella:English
Almmustuhtton: Brill 2008
Fáttát:
_version_ 1826288543168724992
author Mehu, M
Dunbar, R
author_facet Mehu, M
Dunbar, R
author_sort Mehu, M
collection OXFORD
description Although smiling and laughter have received considerable attention from researchers, little is known about the way they are displayed in naturally occurring group interactions. This aspect could be crucial if we want to understand the function of affiliative behaviours in social relationships. Naturalistic observations were conducted in areas where people could be watched interacting in small groups. Focal sampling of men and women allowed the recording of smiling and laughter frequencies, as well as group size and composition in terms of age and sex. Overall, smiling and laughter were influenced by group size and age of people involved. Smiling and laughter were also affected by other aspects of social context, depending on the type of behaviour concerned and the sex of individuals. By deriving predictions from three hypotheses - sexual advertisement, social competition, and cooperation - this study revealed that smiling and laughter are likely to be involved in the formation of cooperative relationships.
first_indexed 2024-03-07T02:15:17Z
format Journal article
id oxford-uuid:a202fb1e-f4c0-4694-a5d2-cc6cbf9c85df
institution University of Oxford
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-07T02:15:17Z
publishDate 2008
publisher Brill
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:a202fb1e-f4c0-4694-a5d2-cc6cbf9c85df2022-03-27T02:17:21ZNaturalistic observations of smiling and laughter in human group interactionsJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:a202fb1e-f4c0-4694-a5d2-cc6cbf9c85dfCognitive anthropologyAnthropologyBiologyPsychologyEnglishOxford University Research Archive - ValetBrill2008Mehu, MDunbar, RAlthough smiling and laughter have received considerable attention from researchers, little is known about the way they are displayed in naturally occurring group interactions. This aspect could be crucial if we want to understand the function of affiliative behaviours in social relationships. Naturalistic observations were conducted in areas where people could be watched interacting in small groups. Focal sampling of men and women allowed the recording of smiling and laughter frequencies, as well as group size and composition in terms of age and sex. Overall, smiling and laughter were influenced by group size and age of people involved. Smiling and laughter were also affected by other aspects of social context, depending on the type of behaviour concerned and the sex of individuals. By deriving predictions from three hypotheses - sexual advertisement, social competition, and cooperation - this study revealed that smiling and laughter are likely to be involved in the formation of cooperative relationships.
spellingShingle Cognitive anthropology
Anthropology
Biology
Psychology
Mehu, M
Dunbar, R
Naturalistic observations of smiling and laughter in human group interactions
title Naturalistic observations of smiling and laughter in human group interactions
title_full Naturalistic observations of smiling and laughter in human group interactions
title_fullStr Naturalistic observations of smiling and laughter in human group interactions
title_full_unstemmed Naturalistic observations of smiling and laughter in human group interactions
title_short Naturalistic observations of smiling and laughter in human group interactions
title_sort naturalistic observations of smiling and laughter in human group interactions
topic Cognitive anthropology
Anthropology
Biology
Psychology
work_keys_str_mv AT mehum naturalisticobservationsofsmilingandlaughterinhumangroupinteractions
AT dunbarr naturalisticobservationsofsmilingandlaughterinhumangroupinteractions