The effect of the laughter on the cognitive appraisal to stressful situations

In this study, we examined 1) whether the laughter affects the cognitive appraisal to stressful situations or not, 2) whether the effect is caused by mirth or physical expression, and 3) how the laughter, the cognitive appraisal, and the personalities are related. In the experiment, participants listened to a humorous or neutral auditory stimulus. After that they evaluated the imaginary stressful situations. In this study, there were three experimental conditions. In condition 1, participants listened to the neutral auditory stimulus and they didn't feel mirth. In condition 2, participants listened to the humorous stimulus and they felt mirth. In condition 3, participants listened to the stimulus used in condition 2. Furthermore, they were asked not to laugh. As a result, the laughter didn't affect the cognitive appraisal. However the data have shown that the cognitive appraisal correlated with the personalities differently in each condition. Thus, it is possible that the laughter affects the relationship between the cognitive appraisal and the personalities. We expect that the effect of the laughter will be examined by improved experiments in the future, while focusing on the personalities which seem to have relationship with the cognitive appraisal.