Positive Psychology: The Science of Humor Shawn Achor Harvard University Spring 2008.

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Presentation transcript:

Positive Psychology: The Science of Humor Shawn Achor Harvard University Spring 2008

Working Definition Humor is a way of mindfully perceiving the world, analogous to optimism, where an individual heightens awareness of potentials in a situation.

Outline I. Psychology of humor II. Mental and Physical Benefits III. Positive Social Benefits IIII. Pragmatic steps IIIII. The greatest power of humor

What just happened? "rhythmic, vocalized, expiratory and involuntary actions" 15 facial muscles contract  Zygomatic major muscle raises lip Epiglottis half-closes the larynx Blood pressure lowered Increase in vascular blood flow Flexed abdominal, respiratory, facial, leg, and back muscles.

How We Study Changes Us 97 to 3 ratio of negative to humor research  “Depression” 125,089 articles  “Humor” 4,943  “Steven Colbert” (no results found) Medical School Syndrome

Why talk about humor? Definitional problems Dead Frog Problem Genetics vs. Environment

The Psychology of Funny Freud: Humor as “psychological release”  Jokes and Their Relationship to the Unconscious “Social acceptable envelope of id desires”

Henri Bergson Humor as social “corrective” The Dale Sturtevant Theory

Dale Sturtevant

Achor: Humor as mindful lens Social rule breaking Humor = shift in evaluative stance  Counterfactuals Positive spin: Alpha vs Beta Press Alpha press- objective constraints of reality Beta press– subjective construal of reality Mindfulness of potentialities

The Tetris Effect Humor as cognitive afterimage (Achor, 2007)

Humor as transformative lens Transcending the status quo (Berger) Relationship to Peak Experiences (Maslow)  Momentarily take on self-actualization  Ordinary becomes extraordinary (the Office)

Ordinary Transformed

Part III: The Physical and Mental Benefits of Humor

Sympathetic Nervous System

The Soprano Effect (Achor, 2006)

The Biology of Laughter Laughter as medicine and exercise Increases in  T-cells (immune system)  Gamma-interferon (disease fighting protein)  B-cells (makes antibodies) Laughter decreases serum cortisol (Sultanoff)

The Mental and Physical Benefits Even small dose increases immune system Bronchial asthma (Kamata) Humor increases pain tolerance Ice bucket experiment (Zweyer) Lowers blood sugar for Type 2 Diabetes (Hayashi) Decreases stress/ increases remission rates Testicular Cancer (Chapple and Zieland)

Model students? Average # of romantic relationships < 1  Average number of sexual partners % are unaware if they are currently in a romantic relationship

Positive Social Effects: Mirror Neurons and Condoms Attraction and bondage (Fraley) Dating: Desirability in mates  Signal of cognitive fitness  Differences between men and women (Bressler)  Flirting at a bar Negotiations and Marriage  Gottman

Humor as Therapy Humor and Journaling (Pennebaker) Cuddle parties, laughing groups in India Transforming trauma and bad days

6 Ways to Increase Humor 1. Journal funny stories unique to you 2. Watch funny people 3. TQP—Two question process A. Why am I so funny? B. And why don’t others recognize this? Builds self-esteem 4. The permission to be subhuman 5. Variety, breaking pattern 6. Tetris Effect

The greatest power of humor Jon Stewart post 9/11 The suffering Onion

Jon Stewart

Slow Transformation

Conclusion Humor is a lens like optimism Demands a mindfulness to potentialities Increased health, increased sociability, and decreased stress Humor as therapeutic reorientation

Shining with Humor Lens