Why we laugh:

the foundations of laughter in the social context

Abstract

This article aims to explain the psychic and mental mechanisms that underlie laughter, especially in the social context, since laughter is a very common form of expression, but it often goes unnoticed by our perceptions on a daily basis. Thus, the reason for the laughter presented comes into the agenda when it can generate strangeness or a perception of inadequacy to the context in which it is expressed. Bibliographic and qualitative research, carried out in articles and books, was based mainly on the psychoanalytical approach, but there was also collaboration from the cognitive and historical perspectives on the subject. Each subject apprehends the message in their own way, according to their characteristics, capacities and limitations, and that is precisely why the evoked responses can differ so much. Laughter is ambiguous and versatile, it serves anyone and for different purposes