The communicative intent of laughter in group psychotherapy

Videotape records of several meetings of a therapy group were obtained and scored for the occurrence of laughing, smiling, and talking. These same tapes were then reviewed again and rated on a 5-minute interval basis for therapeutic value, utilizing the Hill Interaction Matrix. Finally, some forty-one episodes which contained very high amounts of laughter were selected for closer scrutiny. Each of these examples was categorized according to the type of humor instigating the laughter response. Comparisons were then made among and within the different sessions in order to determine meaningful correlations between laughing and the rated therapeutic value of the group interaction.

Results of this study supported the belief that an empirically-based approach can be effectively used to examine these behaviors as they occur in a "natural" group setting. Furthermore, the notion that such behavioral observations may serve as signs of an ongoing or imminent shift in the direction and/or level of group interaction was also generally upheld. More specific and conclusive findings are not available due to limitations in some of the procedures and instruments used in the study such as the Hill Interaction Matrix for assessing change in therapeutic value of the group interaction and the humor type classification system derived from previous research. Some suggestions for improvements and directions for future efforts are also discussed.