Effects of Duration and Laughter on Subjective Happiness Within Different Modes of Communication

Tatiana A. Vlahovic · Sam G. B. Roberts · Robin Dunbar

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Humor Studies and Applications Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction Digital Communication and Language

Abstract

Media naturalness theory and social information processing theory make competing predictions regarding the effectiveness of different modes of communication at creating and maintaining emotionally intense social relationships. We explored how the duration of interaction and the form of laughter influenced happiness in communication modes with different levels of media naturalness. Forty-one participants completed a 14-day contact diary, recording interactions across face-to-face, Skype, telephone, instant messaging, texting, and e-mail/social network sites. Increases in duration of interaction positively predicted happiness only for face-to-face interactions, offering partial support for the media naturalness hypothesis. Laughter positively predicted happiness in all but one of the communication modes, with real and symbolic laughter having similar effects, a result consistent with the social information processing theory.

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References

1986Organizational Information Requirements, Media Richness and Structural Design 2010Most people are not WEIRD 2009Inferring friendship network structure by using mobile phone data 2009Social Consequences of the Internet for Adolescents 2001Sociability, Interpersonal Relations, and the Internet 2008The social role of touch in humans and primates: Behavioural function and neurobiological mechanisms 1988A review of research on the happiness measures: A sixty second index of happiness and mental health 2001Laughter: a scientific investigation

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