Laughter and power

Laughter has power contours. From one study:

Whether they are speakers or audiences…females laugh more often than males. Female speakers laugh 127% more than their male audiences. Male speakers laugh 7% less than their female audiences. Neither males nor females laugh as much to female speakers as they do to male speakers. (Provine, American Scientist, 1996)

In his lectures on the philosophy of humor, Professor Steven Gimbel argues that such gendered patterns stem from social power, not biology. Other studies find that, regardless of gender, bosses speaking to workers are least likely to laugh, and workers speaking to bosses are most likely to laugh. Those with social power laugh less, Gimbel says, because they have less motivation to soften their message or make others comfortable. Those without power are more likely to use levity and self-deprecation in order to put other people at ease. It’s something to think about in your next meeting.