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First published on August 24, 2007, doi:10.1177/0146167207305863

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 2007;33:1547.

A more recent version of this article appeared on November 1, 2007
 © 2007 Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

Article

What's So Funny About Not Having Money? The Effects of Power on Laughter

Tyler F. Stillman*, Roy F. Baumeister, and C. Nathan DeWall

Florida State University

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: stillman{at}psy.fsu.edu.


  Abstract
Two studies tested the hypothesis that occupying a position of low power increases the likelihood of laughter, presumably as a means of gaining friends and supporters. In Study 1, participants laughed more at an interviewer’s jokes when the interviewer controlled their cash rewards than in the absence of monetary contingencies. Study 2 found that low-power participants (manipulated again by expecting that someone else would decide their cash rewards) laughed more than high-power participants even when they were alone. Low power also increased laughing at a fellow low-power coworker. These findings suggest that low power motivates interest in making friends and hence increases behaviors that promote social bonding.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?