Volitional Laughter Behavior

A Volitional Laughter Behavior is a controlled laughter behavior that employs conscious neural pathways to produce strategic vocalizations for social communication purposes.

• AKA: Voluntary Laughter, Controlled Laughter, Strategic Laughter, Non-Duchenne Laughter.
• Context:
  • It can typically originate from Premotor Cortex through voluntary control.
  • It can typically serve Social Functions via communicative intent.
  • It can often lack Orbicularis Oculi Activation unlike genuine laughter.
  • It can often display Longer Duration than spontaneous laughter.
  • It can range from being a Subtle Volitional Laughter to being an Exaggerated Volitional Laughter, depending on its display intensity.
  • It can range from being a Convincing Volitional Laughter to being an Unconvincing Volitional Laughter, depending on its authenticity perception.
  • It can range from being a Brief Volitional Laughter to being a Prolonged Volitional Laughter, depending on its temporal extent.
  • It can range from being a Prosocial Volitional Laughter to being a Manipulative Volitional Laughter, depending on its social intention.
  • It can facilitate Social Influence Task through strategic deployment.
  • It can maintain Social Relationships via politeness norms.
  • It can mask Negative Emotions through emotional regulation.
  • ...
• Examples:
  • Polite Volitional Laughters, such as:
    • Social Courtesy Laughter for etiquette compliance.
    • Conversational Agreement Laughter for dialogue management.
    • Gratitude Expression Laughter for appreciation signaling.
  • Strategic Volitional Laughters, such as:
    • Ingratiating Laughter for favor seeking.
    • Dominant Laughter for power display.
    • Deflecting Laughter for topic avoidance.
  • Professional Volitional Laughters, such as:
    • Customer Service Laughter for rapport building.
    • Performer Stage Laughter for audience engagement.
  • ...
• Counter-Examples:
  • Duchenne Laughter Behavior, which involves involuntary response.
  • Reflexive Laughter, which lacks conscious control.
  • Pathological Laughter, which escapes voluntary regulation.
• See: Human Laughter Behavior, Controlled Behavior, Social Communication Tool, Voluntary Neural Pathway, Premotor Cortex, Social Influence Task, Nonverbal Communication, Emotional Labor, Social Performance, Impression Management.

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