Gelotophobia

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The term gelotophobia ( geliophobia ) is a combination of the Greek words gélōs (γέλως dt. Laugh ) and phobía (φοβία dt. Fear, fear ). This phobia describes people who are afraid of being laughed at. Those affected are unable to appreciate laughter in its affective positive meaning. Gelotophobes cannot use laughter as one of the prerequisites for an attitude to life that is characterized by joy, serenity and exuberance. They basically experience the laughter of their fellow human beings as a threat to their own self-esteem - even if it is by no means aggressive.

history

Gelotophobia has only been scientifically investigated by psychologists, psychiatrists and sociologists worldwide since 2008. This research was initiated by clinical observations by Michael Titze , who introduced the term gelotophobia in 1995. Titze found that some people primarily suffer from the fear of being laughed at by their social partners. These people tend to be constantly on the lookout for signs of derogatory, derisive laughter around them. Furthermore, they are globally convinced that they are ridiculous.

outer appearance

Gelotophobics lack liveliness, spontaneity and joie de vivre. They often appear distant and cold to their social partners. Probably the most distinctive feature is that humor and laughter are not relaxing and pleasant social experiences for them, but on the contrary trigger tension and fear. Even Henri Bergson compared people who are the target of ridicule and derogatory laughter with wooden dolls or marionettes. In order to hide this shameful flaw from the outside, gelotophobes try to appear as inconspicuous as possible, which, however, has the opposite effect: their movements can become so cramped that they give a clumsy, wooden impression. Titze called this "strange" appearance the Pinocchio syndrome.

Gelotophobia and social phobia

Pinocchio's syndrome usually manifests itself as muscular tension that is associated with specific physiological symptoms, such as racing heart , muscle twitching, tremors, flushing, sweating, shortness of breath, and a dry throat and mouth. Such symptoms are also characteristic of a social phobia. A social phobia is the generalized fear of social rejection, while gelotophobia is a specific fear of social rejection that is primarily stimulated by laughter. In a nutshell, it can be said: Every gelotophobic is a social phobic, but not every social phobic is a gelotophobic. Kim Edwards and co-workers found that gelotophobia differs from social phobia in that there has been a history of repeated traumatic experiences with disparaging laughter.

Causes and consequences of gelotophobia

Based on clinical observations, a model of the causes and consequences of gelotophobia has been formulated, which includes the following conditions:

causes
  • In childhood: Development of primary shame due to disinterest and emotional coldness between caregiver and child.
  • Repeated traumatic experiences with disparaging laughter (ridicule, teasing, laughing) in childhood and adolescence.
  • Intense traumatic experiences with mocking laughter in adulthood (e.g. bullying).
consequences
  • "Weird behaviour
  • Social skills are poorly developed.
  • Psychosomatic disorders e.g. B. flushing, tension headache, tremors, dizziness, speech disorders, emotional loss of control.
  • "Pinocchio syndrome": Emotional freezing, "petrifying" of facial expressions, "wooden", clumsy body movements. Those affected seem cold, aloof and strange.
  • Loss of spontaneity, self-respect and zest for life.
  • Laughter and humor do not have a relaxing, joyful effect, but fear or destructive aggressiveness.
  • Withdrawal from social life in order to protect oneself from renewed trauma through disparaging laughter.

Determinants of gelotophobia

Here are some typical determinants of gelotophobia:

  • Social avoidance behavior that is motivated by fear of being ridiculous in public.
  • Afraid of the laughter of others.
  • Paranoid evaluation of humorous statements by the social partners.
  • Lack of ability to deal with other people in a humorous, happy manner.
  • Critical self-assessment in relation to one's own body as well as one's own verbal and non-verbal skills.
  • Feelings of inferiority and envy that arise from comparing other people's humor skills.

Diagnostic assessment of gelotophobia

Based on the above-mentioned characteristics of gelotophobia, 46 specific findings were derived, which form the basis for a questionnaire for the assessment of gelotophobia (GELOPH 46), starting with minimally threatening situations up to extremely threatening situations. The short form of a gelotophobia questionnaire was derived from this, which now contains only 15 statements (GELOPH <15>). Based on the GELOPH, a set of pictorial instruments was created that draws on cartoons that show laughing people in different situations. For example, a picture shows someone watching two people laugh. The test persons should assess what the observer might feel. While those who are free from gelotophobia might answer something like: "The youngsters are just having fun with each other", a typical answer from a gelotophobics would be: "Why are they making fun of me?"

Validation and empirical studies

In empirical studies, statistically verified knowledge about the personality structure of gelotophobes was obtained. Willibald Ruch reports that gelotophobes are introverted and neurotic. In Jürgen Eysenck's PEN personality model , gelotophobia correlates strongly with the dimensions of introversion and neuroticism. And on older P scales, gelotophobes score higher in the psychoticism dimension. They also appear to have had intense experiences of shame during their lifetime, and they experience both shame and fear in a significant way during a typical week. Gelotophobes also experience negative feelings when hearing other people laugh. Gelotophobes cannot distinguish between a friendly laugh and a hostile laugh. You react to every laugh with negative feelings such as shame, fear, and anger. The ability to feel joy and to develop socially connecting forms of humor is clearly limited. Most gelotophobes remember embarrassing childhood situations where they were ridiculed and laughed at by their caregivers.

Strengths, intelligence and good humor

Specific tests show that gelotophobes often underestimate their own potential and skills. For example, they tend to see themselves as less virtuous than people they know personally. Gelotophobes accordingly underestimate their intellectual performance by up to 6 IQ points. Gelotophobes also have an overall negative attitude towards laughter. Laughter cannot put her in a happy mood. Personally, they consider themselves to be less humorous than they actually are (based on specific test results).

International Gelotophobia Study

The GELOPH 15 has been translated into over 40 languages ​​and used in a study in 72 different countries around the world. The results show that the test subjects examined can be differentiated by two factors or basic motives, namely (a) uncertainty and (b) avoidance behavior. Insecure gelotophobes try to hide the decisive conviction of being funny or ridiculous from others. (According to the results of the study, this motif is particularly widespread in Turkmenistan and Cambodia.) The avoidance-oriented gelotophobes, on the other hand, avoid all social situations in which one could laugh. Because laughter is experienced as a threat to self-esteem. (This motive is particularly prevalent in Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, and Thailand.) The prevalence of gelotophobia is particularly high in Asia, where the welfare of the collective is a high priority and the interests of the individual are subordinate to those of the group. From this, in turn, the motive is derived to “save face” under all circumstances. Based on the results of this multinational study, the authors view gelotophobia as a personality trait rather than a disease. The corresponding range of manifestations of gelotophobia ranges from minimal to very high or pathological anxiety.

literature

  • Hugo Carretero-Dios, René T. Proyer, Willibald Ruch , Victor J. Rubio: The Spanish version of the GELOPH <15>: Properties of a questionnaire for the assessment of the fear of being laughed at. In: International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology. Vol. 10, No. 2, 2010, ISSN  1697-2600 , pp. 345-357 ( PDF; 302 kB )
  • Kim R. Edwards, Rod A. Martin, David JA Dozois: The fear of being laughed at, social anxiety, and memories of being teased durcing childhood. In: Psychological Test and Assessment Modeling. Vol. 52, No. 1, 2010 ISSN  2190-0493 pp. 94-107 ( PDF; 149 kB )
  • Martin Führ, René T. Proyer, Willibald Ruch: Assessing the fear of being laughed at (gelotophobia): First evaluation of the Danish GELOPH <15>. In: Nordic Psychology , Vol. 61, No. 2, 2009 ISSN  1901-2276 pp. 62-73.
  • Martin Führ: The applicability of the GELOPH <15> in children and adolescents: First evaluation in a large sample of Danish pupils. In: Psychological Test and Assessment Modeling. Vol. 52 No. 1, 2010 ISSN  2190-0493 pp. 60-76. ( PDF; 204 kB )
  • Susan Gaidos: When humor humiliates. In: Science News , Vol. 178, No. 3, 2009 pp. 18-26.
  • Willibald Ruch, W. Fearing humor? Gelotophobia: The fear of being laughed at. Introduction and overview. In: Humor: International Journal of Humor Research , 22, 2009, pp. 1–26.
  • Michael Titze : The healing power of laughter. Heal early embarrassments with therapeutic humor. Kösel, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-466-30390-7
  • Michael Titze: The Pinocchio Complex: Overcoming the fear of laughter. In: Humor & Health Journal , V, 1996, pp. 1-11
  • Michael Titze: Treating Gelotophobia with Humordrama. In: Humor & Health Journal , XVI, No. 4, 2007, pp. 1-11.
  • Michael Titze, Rolf Kühn : Laughter between joy and shame. A psychological-phenomenological analysis of gelotophobia. Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-8260-4328-4

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b R. T. Proyer, W. Ruch, W., NS Ali, HS Al-Olimat, T. Andualem Adal, S. Aziz Ansari et al .: Breaking ground in cross-cultural research on the fear of being laughed at (gelotophobia ): multi-national study involving 73 countries. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 22, 2009 (1/2), pp. 253-279.
  2. ↑ a b Michael Titze: The healing power of laughter. Healing early shame with therapeutic humor. Kösel, Munich 1995, [6. 2007 edition].
  3. ↑ a b Kim R. Edwards, Rod A. Martin, David JA Dozois: The fear of being laughed at, social anxiety, and memories of being teased durcing childhood. Psychological Test and Assessment Modeling, 52, 2010 (1), pp. 94-107.
  4. ↑ Michael Titze: The comic as a shame-inducing condition. In: Rolf Kühn, M. Raub, Michael Titze: Scham - a human feeling. Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen 1997, pp. 169–178.
  5. ↑ G. de Boois: Gelotofobie en Sociale Fobie: Twee verschillende Concepten? Thesis, Faculteit Sociale Wetenschappen, Universiteit Utrecht 2009, 2.
  6. ↑ Michael Titze, Rolf Kühn: Laughter between joy and shame. A psychological-phenomenological analysis of gelotophobia. Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2010, chap. VI.
  7. ^ Henri Bergson: The Laughter. An essai on the importance of the comic. Translation by Roswitha Plancherel-Walter. Arche, Zurich 1972.
  8. ↑ Michael Titze: Gelotophobia: The fear of being laughed at. Humor. International Journal of Humor Research, 22 (1/2), 2009, pp. 27-48.
  9. ↑ Willibald Ruch, Michael Titze: GELOPH 46. Unpublished questionnaire. Department of Psychology, University of Düsseldorf, 1998.
  10. ↑ Willibald Ruch & RT Proyer: The fear of being laughed at: Individual and group differences in Gelotophobia ,: Humor. International Journal of Humor Research 21, 2008, 47-67.
  11. ↑ Willibald Ruch, René T. Proyer: Who is gelotophobic? Assessment criteria for the fear of being laughed at. Swiss Journal of Psychology 67, 2008, pp. 19-27.
  12. ^ A b Willibald Ruch, O. Altfreder, Ron T. Proyer: How do gelotophobes interpret laughter in ambiguous situations? An experimental validation of the concept. Humor. International Journal of Humor Research 22 (1/2), 2009, pp. 63-90.
  13. ↑ Willibald Ruch: Gelotophobia: A useful new concept? IPSR Spring 2004 Colloquium Series, Department of Psychology, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, USA, 2004.
  14. ^ A b Willibald Ruch, René T. Proyer: Who Fears Being Laughed at? The location of gelotophobes in the PEN-model of Personality. In: Personality and Individual Differences, 46 (5/6), 2009, pp. 627-630.
  15. ↑ T. Platt: Emotional responses to ridicule and teasing: Should gelotophobics react differently? In: humor. International Journal of Humor Research 21 (2), 2008, pp. 105-128
  16. ↑ Willibald Ruch, U. Beermann, Ron T. Proyer: Investigating the humor of gelotophobes: Does feeling ridiculous equal being humourless? In: humor. International Journal of Humor Research 22 (1/2), 2009, 111-144.
  17. ↑ Ron T. Proyer, Ch. H. Hempelmann, Willibald Ruch: Where they really laughed at? That much? Gelotophobes and their history of perceived derisibility. In: humor. International Journal of Humor Research 22 (1/2), 2009, pp. 213-233.
  18. ^ Ron T. Proyer, Willibald Ruch: How virtuous are gelotophobes? Self- and peer-reported character strengths among those who fear being laughed at. In: Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 22. 2009, pp. 145-163.
  19. ↑ Willibald Ruch, U. Beermann, Ron T. Proyer: Investigating the humor of gelotophobes: Does feeling ridiculous equal being humorless? In: Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 22, 2009, pp. 111-143.