Gregory Bryant on cross-cultural research
From Being Human | Greg Bryant | Why Do We Laugh? · · TheLeakeyFoundation
“Across 17 societies we tested, listeners everywhere performed above chance distinguishing real from posed laughs — the average was about 64% accuracy — showing cross-cultural sensitivity to acoustic features of laughter.”
On , Gregory Bryant, Executive Vice President & President of Business Units at Analog Devices, Inc, spoke about cross-cultural research during Being Human | Greg Bryant | Why Do We Laugh? on TheLeakeyFoundation.
About Gregory Bryant
Gregory Bryant, an associate professor at UCLA in the Department of Communication Studies, gave a talk in 2017 titled "Why Do We Laugh?" in which he discussed his research on the evolution of human vocal communication, focusing on laughter. He described laughter as a neuro-mechanical oscillation involving respiratory and laryngeal activity, an involuntary vocalization evolutionarily related to sounds made by other animals. Bryant stated that laughter functions as a play vocalization, similar to a dog's play bow, signaling non-threatening intent. He noted that humor involves implying things without stating them directly, and laughter can signal successful decryption of that implication. Bryant presented findings from cross-cultural research, stating that listeners across 17 societies performed above chance at distinguishing real from posed laughs, with an average accuracy of about 64%. He explained that spontaneous laughs have a higher proportion of unvoiced components, while volitional laughs are more speech-like with more voicing. Bryant also discussed laughter's role in signaling cooperative intent and building relationships, as well as its potential for social manipulation, describing it as a signal that can be used to gain trust or affiliation.