Self-deception inhibits laughter

Self-deception inhibits laughter

Robert F. Lynch and Robert L. Trivers

Abstract

How does self-deception affect the appreciation of humor and laughter? Fifty-nine undergraduates at Rutgers University (33 females, 26 males) were videotaped while watching a stand-up comedian for 28 min. Positive emotional expressions associated with laughter were analyzed for short sections of the act (total: 8 min or 14,400 video frames) and were scored for each subject using the facial action coding system (FACS). Participants who scored lower on a self-deception questionnaire (low self-deceivers) laughed significantly longer and more intensely than those who scored higher on the questionnaire (high self-deceivers). This was true when corrected for measures of impression management, extraversion, mood and how much a person laughs in their everyday life. If self-deception evolved to deceive others and laughter is a hard to fake signal of preferences, then suppressed laughter by self-deceptive individuals may serve to mask ones preferences. More generally since humor often involves seeing life or a person from a novel angle and self-deception tends to reduce such angles, self-deception will naturally tend to reduce ones sense of humor.

Peterson on Trust and Betrayal:

On the initial discovery of an interest:

"Paradoxically, the initial discovery of an interest often goes unnoticed by the discoverer. In other words, when you start to get interested in something, you may not even realize that's what's happening."

Angela Duckworth

Anxiety & Exploratory Behavior:

~ Anxiety keeps our exploratory behavior in check.

Selbstkontrolle:

Selbstkontrolle besteht primär im Auswählen von Gedanken, von Objekten, denen Aufmerksamkeit gewidment wird, von Handlungen und von Kontakten.

Man gibt sich selbst Rechenschaft, indem man folgende Frage beantwortet:
Von allen Gedanken, die dir möglich waren, von allen Objekten, denen du Aufmerksamkeit widmen konntest, allen Handlungen und Kontakten, die dir möglich gewesen wären, warum entschiedest du dich eben für diese Gedanken, Objekte, Handlungen und Kontakte?

Planning Cycle:

o create a plan
o execute the plan
o observe the results of your plan

"You come to make better decisions by making not-so-good decisions and then correcting them. You get to be a good planner by making plans, implementing them and seeing the results again and again."

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