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Research Article

Detecting affiliation in colaughter across 24 societies

Gregory A. Bryant, Daniel M. T. Fessler, View ORCID ProfileRiccardo Fusaroli, Edward Clint, Lene Aarøe, Coren L. Apicella, Michael Bang Petersen, Shaneikiah T. Bickham, Alexander Bolyanatz, Brenda Chavez, Delphine De Smet, Cinthya Díaz, Jana Fančovičová, Michal Fux, Paulina Giraldo-Perez, Anning Hu, Shanmukh V. Kamble, Tatsuya Kameda, Norman P. Li, Francesca R. Luberti, Pavol Prokop, Katinka Quintelier, Brooke A. Scelza, Hyun Jung Shin, Montserrat Soler, Stefan Stieger, View ORCID ProfileWataru Toyokawa, Ellis A. van den Hende, Hugo Viciana-Asensio, Saliha Elif Yildizhan, Jose C. Yong, Tessa Yuditha, and Yi Zhou
  1. aDepartment of Communication Studies, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095;
  2. bUCLA Center for Behavior, Evolution, and Culture, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095;
  3. cDepartment of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095;
  4. dInteracting Minds Center, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark;
  5. eCenter for Semiotics, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark;
  6. fDepartment of Political Science and Government, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark;
  7. gDepartment of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104;
  8. hDepartment of Political Science and Government, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark;
  9. iIndependent Scholar;
  10. jDepartment of Anthropology, College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, IL 60137;
  11. kDepartment of Psychology, Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru, San Miguel Lima, Lima 32, Peru;
  12. lDepartment of Interdisciplinary Study of Law, Private Law and Business Law, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium;
  13. mDepartment of Biology, University of Trnava, 918 43 Trnava, Slovakia;
  14. nDepartment of Biblical and Ancient Studies, University of South Africa, Pretoria 0002, South Africa;
  15. oDepartment of Biology, University of Auckland, Aukland 1142, New Zealand;
  16. pDepartment of Sociology, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China;
  17. qDepartment of Psychology, Karnatak University Dharwad, Karnataka 580003, India;
  18. rDepartment of Social Psychology, University of Tokyo, 7 Chome-3-1 Hongo, Tokyo, Japan;
  19. sDepartment of Psychology, Singapore Management University, 188065 Singapore;
  20. tInstitute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 845 06 Bratislava, Slovakia;
  21. uInternational Strategy & Marketing Section, University of Amsterdam, 1012 Amsterdam, The Netherlands;
  22. vDepartment of Psychology, Pusan National University, Pusan 609-735, Korea;
  23. wDepartment of Anthropology, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ 07043;
  24. xDepartment of Psychology, University of Konstanz, 78464 Konstanz, Germany;
  25. yDepartment of Psychology, University of Vienna, 1010 Vienna, Austria;
  26. zDepartment of Behavioral Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido Prefecture, 5 Chome-8 Kita Jonshi, Japan;
  27. aaDepartment of Product Innovation and Management, Delft University of Technology, 2628 Delft, The Netherlands;
  28. bbDepartment of Philosophy, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, 75005 Paris, France;
  29. ccDepartment of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Uludag University, Bursa 16059, Turkey;
  30. ddJakarta Field Station, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Jakarta 12930, Indonesia

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PNAS April 26, 2016 113 (17) 4682-4687; first published April 11, 2016; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1524993113
Gregory A. Bryant
aDepartment of Communication Studies, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095;
bUCLA Center for Behavior, Evolution, and Culture, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095;
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  • For correspondence: gabryant@ucla.edu
Daniel M. T. Fessler
bUCLA Center for Behavior, Evolution, and Culture, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095;
cDepartment of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095;
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Riccardo Fusaroli
dInteracting Minds Center, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark;
eCenter for Semiotics, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark;
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  • ORCID record for Riccardo Fusaroli
Edward Clint
bUCLA Center for Behavior, Evolution, and Culture, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095;
cDepartment of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095;
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Lene Aarøe
fDepartment of Political Science and Government, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark;
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Coren L. Apicella
gDepartment of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104;
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Michael Bang Petersen
hDepartment of Political Science and Government, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark;
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Shaneikiah T. Bickham
iIndependent Scholar;
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Alexander Bolyanatz
jDepartment of Anthropology, College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, IL 60137;
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Brenda Chavez
kDepartment of Psychology, Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru, San Miguel Lima, Lima 32, Peru;
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Delphine De Smet
lDepartment of Interdisciplinary Study of Law, Private Law and Business Law, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium;
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Cinthya Díaz
kDepartment of Psychology, Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru, San Miguel Lima, Lima 32, Peru;
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Jana Fančovičová
mDepartment of Biology, University of Trnava, 918 43 Trnava, Slovakia;
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Michal Fux
nDepartment of Biblical and Ancient Studies, University of South Africa, Pretoria 0002, South Africa;
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Paulina Giraldo-Perez
oDepartment of Biology, University of Auckland, Aukland 1142, New Zealand;
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Anning Hu
pDepartment of Sociology, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China;
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Shanmukh V. Kamble
qDepartment of Psychology, Karnatak University Dharwad, Karnataka 580003, India;
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Tatsuya Kameda
rDepartment of Social Psychology, University of Tokyo, 7 Chome-3-1 Hongo, Tokyo, Japan;
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Norman P. Li
sDepartment of Psychology, Singapore Management University, 188065 Singapore;
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Francesca R. Luberti
bUCLA Center for Behavior, Evolution, and Culture, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095;
cDepartment of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095;
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Pavol Prokop
mDepartment of Biology, University of Trnava, 918 43 Trnava, Slovakia;
tInstitute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 845 06 Bratislava, Slovakia;
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Katinka Quintelier
uInternational Strategy & Marketing Section, University of Amsterdam, 1012 Amsterdam, The Netherlands;
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Brooke A. Scelza
bUCLA Center for Behavior, Evolution, and Culture, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095;
cDepartment of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095;
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Hyun Jung Shin
vDepartment of Psychology, Pusan National University, Pusan 609-735, Korea;
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Montserrat Soler
wDepartment of Anthropology, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ 07043;
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Stefan Stieger
xDepartment of Psychology, University of Konstanz, 78464 Konstanz, Germany;
yDepartment of Psychology, University of Vienna, 1010 Vienna, Austria;
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Wataru Toyokawa
zDepartment of Behavioral Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido Prefecture, 5 Chome-8 Kita Jonshi, Japan;
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  • ORCID record for Wataru Toyokawa
Ellis A. van den Hende
aaDepartment of Product Innovation and Management, Delft University of Technology, 2628 Delft, The Netherlands;
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Hugo Viciana-Asensio
bbDepartment of Philosophy, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, 75005 Paris, France;
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Saliha Elif Yildizhan
ccDepartment of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Uludag University, Bursa 16059, Turkey;
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Jose C. Yong
sDepartment of Psychology, Singapore Management University, 188065 Singapore;
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Tessa Yuditha
ddJakarta Field Station, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Jakarta 12930, Indonesia
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Yi Zhou
pDepartment of Sociology, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China;
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  1. Edited by Susan T. Fiske, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, and approved March 9, 2016 (received for review December 18, 2015)

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Significance

Human cooperation requires reliable communication about social intentions and alliances. Although laughter is a phylogenetically conserved vocalization linked to affiliative behavior in nonhuman primates, its functions in modern humans are not well understood. We show that judges all around the world, hearing only brief instances of colaughter produced by pairs of American English speakers in real conversations, are able to reliably identify friends and strangers. Participants’ judgments of friendship status were linked to acoustic features of laughs known to be associated with spontaneous production and high arousal. These findings strongly suggest that colaughter is universally perceivable as a reliable indicator of relationship quality, and contribute to our understanding of how nonverbal communicative behavior might have facilitated the evolution of cooperation.

Abstract

Laughter is a nonverbal vocal expression that often communicates positive affect and cooperative intent in humans. Temporally coincident laughter occurring within groups is a potentially rich cue of affiliation to overhearers. We examined listeners’ judgments of affiliation based on brief, decontextualized instances of colaughter between either established friends or recently acquainted strangers. In a sample of 966 participants from 24 societies, people reliably distinguished friends from strangers with an accuracy of 53–67%. Acoustic analyses of the individual laughter segments revealed that, across cultures, listeners’ judgments were consistently predicted by voicing dynamics, suggesting perceptual sensitivity to emotionally triggered spontaneous production. Colaughter affords rapid and accurate appraisals of affiliation that transcend cultural and linguistic boundaries, and may constitute a universal means of signaling cooperative relationships.

  • laughter
  • cooperation
  • cross-cultural
  • signaling
  • vocalization

Footnotes

  • ↵1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: gabryant{at}ucla.edu.
  • Author contributions: G.A.B. designed research; G.A.B., R.F., E.C., L.A., C.L.A., M.B.P., S.T.B., A.B., B.C., D.D.S., C.D., J.F., M.F., P.G.-P., A.H., S.V.K., T.K., N.P.L., F.R.L., P.P., K.Q., B.A.S., H.J.S., M.S., S.S., W.T., E.A.v.d.H., H.V.-A., S.E.Y., J.C.Y., T.Y., and Y.Z. performed research; G.A.B. and R.F. analyzed data; G.A.B., D.M.T.F., and R.F. wrote the paper; D.M.T.F. conceived and organized the cross-cultural component; and E.C. coordinated cross-cultural researchers.

  • The authors declare no conflict of interest.

  • This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.

  • Data deposition: Experimental response data from all study sites and acoustic data from all laugh stimuli are available at https://escholarship.org/uc/item/99j8r0gx.

  • This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1524993113/-/DCSupplemental.

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Detecting affiliation in colaughter
Gregory A. Bryant, Daniel M. T. Fessler, Riccardo Fusaroli, Edward Clint, Lene Aarøe, Coren L. Apicella, Michael Bang Petersen, Shaneikiah T. Bickham, Alexander Bolyanatz, Brenda Chavez, Delphine De Smet, Cinthya Díaz, Jana Fančovičová, Michal Fux, Paulina Giraldo-Perez, Anning Hu, Shanmukh V. Kamble, Tatsuya Kameda, Norman P. Li, Francesca R. Luberti, Pavol Prokop, Katinka Quintelier, Brooke A. Scelza, Hyun Jung Shin, Montserrat Soler, Stefan Stieger, Wataru Toyokawa, Ellis A. van den Hende, Hugo Viciana-Asensio, Saliha Elif Yildizhan, Jose C. Yong, Tessa Yuditha, Yi Zhou
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Apr 2016, 113 (17) 4682-4687; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1524993113

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Detecting affiliation in colaughter
Gregory A. Bryant, Daniel M. T. Fessler, Riccardo Fusaroli, Edward Clint, Lene Aarøe, Coren L. Apicella, Michael Bang Petersen, Shaneikiah T. Bickham, Alexander Bolyanatz, Brenda Chavez, Delphine De Smet, Cinthya Díaz, Jana Fančovičová, Michal Fux, Paulina Giraldo-Perez, Anning Hu, Shanmukh V. Kamble, Tatsuya Kameda, Norman P. Li, Francesca R. Luberti, Pavol Prokop, Katinka Quintelier, Brooke A. Scelza, Hyun Jung Shin, Montserrat Soler, Stefan Stieger, Wataru Toyokawa, Ellis A. van den Hende, Hugo Viciana-Asensio, Saliha Elif Yildizhan, Jose C. Yong, Tessa Yuditha, Yi Zhou
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Apr 2016, 113 (17) 4682-4687; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1524993113
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