Laughter as Medical Providers' Resource: Negotiating Informed Choice in Prenatal Genetic Counseling

Abstract

This article aims to challenge the perception that in medical encounters laughter is an interactional resource primarily employed by patients. Drawing on 34 video-recorded prenatal genetic counseling (PGC) sessions collected in a Hong Kong hospital, and combining quantitative and qualitative methods, we illustrate that laughter is in fact frequently employed by the medical providers in our data. The particular focus of the article is on the ways in which laughter initiated by the medical providers assists interlocutors in negotiating informed choice, a crucial aspect of PGC sessions. Findings indicate that laughter initiated by the medical providers performs at least two PGC-specific functions: It assists the medical providers in “laughing off” and overcoming patients' resistance, and it helps them in dealing with patients' direct questions. Laughter is thus an important resource for the medical providers in pursuing the institutional goals of the interaction, namely negotiating informed choice with their patients.

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