What’s so funny? Why we laugh when we’re nervous or uncomfortable

Laughter also activates the endorphin system in the brain, says Robin Dunbar, a professor of evolutionary psychology at the University of Oxford, who has conducted extensive studies on the effect of laughter on people’s ability to withstand pain. According to Dunbar’s research, the endorphins released by laughter activate the same receptors as drugs like heroin, with pain-killing and euphoria-producing effects. In a previous interview, Dunbar stated that laughter may have been favored by evolution because it helped bring human groups together and that it is a bonding mechanism that even primates use. “Laughter is actually derived from the monkey play invitation signal, the so-called ROM, or Relaxed Open-Mouth, display,” he says. ROM is a facial display, or “play face” used by primates during play behavior, where the mouth is open but the teeth are covered—a sign of submissiveness. Laughter aside, there are many examples of responding to a negative or positive experience with the opposite expected emotion. Crying tears of joy at a wedding, for example, or laughing at a funeral. “We call the experience of a single emotion which gives rise to an expression normatively consistent with a different emotion incongruous (or “dimorphous”) expressions of emotion,” says Clark. These incongruous emotions may serve a fundamental role in the human experience. According to the Emotional Regulation and Temperament Laboratory at Northern Illinois University, from a neurobiological perspective, various parts of the brain have been increasingly implicated in emotion regulation processes, which are critical to health and social development. Better emotion regulation has been linked with social and academic competence, as well as greater language and moral development. Several studies conducted at Stanford University’s Psychophysiology Laboratory have shown that just believing you can regulate your emotional state has been linked to “increased levels of well-being and decreased psychological distress.” Still, illogical laughter can cause worry and distress. Kiersten says she feels anxious about the onset of giggling at inopportune moments and finds that the worry triggers social anxiety.

“People who feel that they suffer from frequent social anxiety can benefit from practicing strategies such as mindfulness meditation,” suggests Nowinski. For others, nervous laughter may become habitual and interfere with social situations or their work environment. In extreme cases, experts suggest speaking with a physician or psychologist. Dunbar advises against suppressing this emotional response whenever possible as “it helps calm us and it signals submissiveness to those we are interacting with.” So, the next time you see someone overcome with giggles for no apparent reason, don’t be quick to think it’s rude or inappropriate. It’s probably their body’s way of helping them cope and handle an emotional overload.