Sharing the joke: the size of natural laughter groups

Journal article

Recent studies suggest that laughter plays an important role in social bonding. Human communities are much larger than those of other primates and hence require more time to be devoted to social maintenance activities. Yet, there is an upper limit on the amount of time that can be dedicated to social demands, and, in nonhuman primates, this sets an upper limit on social group size. It has been suggested that laughter provides the additional bonding capacity in humans by allowing an increase i...

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Authors: Dezecache, G; Dunbar, R

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: EVOLUTION AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR
• Volume: 33
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 775-779
• Publication date: 2012-11-01
• DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2012.07.002
• ISSN: 1090-5138
• Language: English
• Keywords: Endorphins; Social group size; Social bonding; Laughter; Social grooming