Individual differences in gelotophobia predict responses to joy and contempt
Abstract
In a paradigm facilitating smile misattribution, facial responses and ratings to contempt and joy were investigated in individuals with or without gelotophobia (fear of being laughed at). Participants from two independent samples (N1 = 83, N2 = 50) rated the intensity of eight emotions in 16 photos depicting joy, contempt, and different smiles. Facial responses were coded by the Facial Action Coding System in the second study. Compared with non-fearful individuals, gelotophobes rated joy smiles as less joyful and more contemptuous. Moreover, gelotophobes showed less facial joy and more contempt markers. The contempt ratings were comparable between the two groups. Looking at the photos of smiles lifted the positive mood of non-gelotophobes, whereas gelotophobes did not experience an increase. We hypothesize that the interpretation bias of “joyful faces hiding evil minds” (i.e., being also contemptuous) and exhibiting less joy facially may complicate social interactions for gelotophobes and serve as a maintaining factor of gelotophobia.Citation
Hofmann, J., Platt, T., Ruch, W., Proyer, R.T. (2015) 'Individual Differences in Gelotophobia Predict Responses to Joy and Contempt', 5 (2) SAGE Open, doi: 10.1177/2158244015581191Publisher
SageJournal
SAGE OpenAdditional Links
http://sgo.sagepub.com/lookup/doi/10.1177/2158244015581191Type
Journal articleLanguage
enISSN
2158-2440Sponsors
The research leading to these results has received funding from a research grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF; 100014_126967-1)ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1177/2158244015581191
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