Researchers found that entering into the world of the workforce can kill one's sense of humor. That means laughter will slowly fade away from the person, and only after one retires will that they realize that the damage can no longer be undone.
The researchers from California surveyed more than one million people to see how they use humor in their workplace and analyzed if their laughter changes over time.
They found that people end up laughing less after the age of 23 as they are compelled to conform with the formalities within their offices, MailOnline reports.
Studies show that 98% of companies prefer to hire cheerful applicants. Additionally, managers with a sense of humor are seen as someone who is more pleasant to work with even if they are not funny.
People Lose Their Laughter in Stifling Formality in the Workplace
Laughter Rates Drop at Age 23
Psychologist Jennifer Aaker from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in California said that the less collective humor among workers is a serious problem that afflicts the organizations worldwide.
Together with her colleague Naomi Bagdonas, a management specialist, they surveyed 1.4 million people of various ages across 166 countries to find out about workplace humor and happiness, the Times reports.
They found out that people's laughter and smile rates tend to start dropping at age 23. In comparison with a four-year-old who can laugh as many as 300 times a day, a 40-year-old individual would take ten weeks to rack up the same number.
It seems that this has become the trend in most humorless and stiflingly office workplaces. The researchers said that as people enter the world of the workplace, they suddenly become "serious and important people" who trade laughter and smile for formal suits.
The researchers have been teaching students about how they can use humor and fun in their future jobs. According to them, humor is a superpower that helps enhance influence and status and also fosters creativity within a group.
As Robin Williams said: "You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it."
Read Also: Defining Happiness in Positive Psychology
The Science of Humor
According to the Association for Psychological Science, humans start to develop their sense of humor as early as six weeks old when babies begin to smile.
Laughter is one of the universal emotions that humans share with everyone across the world. April 1 is even made into a day for pranks and humor to celebrate laughter. Although it still a mystery how that date originated but some historians traced it back to the Roman holiday of Hilaria.
Laughter and humor provide psychologists rich resources for studying human psychology like any other emotion and expression. It helps them understand the underlying concepts of language to social perception.
Theories suggest that laughter is an integral part of evolution because of its role in social communication. Moreover, studies also show that humans tend to laugh in response to a video clip rather than just hearing laughter, and they are also more likely to laugh in the presence of other people than alone.
That means that another person and not a joke stimulates laughter from the person, according to APS Fellow Robert R. Provine, a laughter expert and professor emeritus at the Univerisity of Maryland.
Read More: Wearing Makeup Gives Women Confidence And Makes Them Feel Smarter
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