Research and Media Assignment #3 PDF

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Bridgette Kovar 28 November 2017 Research and Media Assignment 3 Dr. Weber Does Laughter Help Moderate Pain Tolerance: From the Media, to a Peer Reviewed Journal Part 1: The media claim I found most interesting was an article from Time magazine called “It’s no Joke: Why Laughter Kills Pain.” The article talked about how laughter produced by comedy, can increase a person’s ability to tolerate pain. The article stated that laughter was similar to the “high” felt by opioid users, and that hospitalized patients’ needs for pain killers significantly decreased when they experienced episodes of laughter induced by funny movies or videos. The Media also claimed that performing in a comedy act led to a greater pain threshold, and laughing with others versus alone increased pain tolerance. The questions that came to mind when reading the media article were: Does laughter actually reduce pain and If so, what are the physiological factors that causes the tolerance of pain to be increased? After choosing the topic of laughter in regards to pain tolerance, I researched peer reviewed articles that could help prove or disprove the media claim. I picked this specific article because I am a biomedical sciences major an I have a substantial interest in the physiology of the human body. Throughout my studies over the years I have developed much interest in alternative and naturopathic medicine. Since laugher is not a medically sound treatment, the media claim on laughter curing

pain really sparked my interest. In general, pain killers work to block the transmission of chemical signals that cause us to feel pain. I find it interesting that there are studies out there linking laughter to the reduction of chronic pain. The article that I found focuses solely on how humor influences pain tolerance, but the peer-reviewed article goes beyond that by studying how humor, cheerfulness, and exhilaration can all be linked to pain reduction. To find the media article, I first googled 8fact to find a topic I was interested in, which surprising I did. I looked into different media websites to find an article that fit the fact the best. I looked at many different websites and found that Time magazine, Which is generally a trusted source, had the best and most farfetched article. The media article had one author, Maia Szalavitz, but she referenced many different researchers in her claim. Then I logged onto NAU’ s library web page to search for peer reviewed documents that could potentially verify of debunk the fact. I clicked on the Advanced search link and searched for articles pertaining to laughter and pain. I expanded my search results and then I narrowed the searches down to articles that were only ‘peerreviewed,’ and I found a promising article from the University of Zurich. At first I didn’t have access to the article, but i used the library’s ‘document delivery service’ to obtain access to the article. The peer reviewed article I obtained was titled “Do cheerfulness, exhilaration, and humor production moderate pain tolerance?” The peer reviewed article talked debunked many hypotheses made by multiple researchers over the years. The hypotheses the article focused on the most were if laughter has relaxing effects, produces opioids, or can reduce pain tolerance

among all people. The article suggested that in some cases laughter can reduce pain, but it depends on a person’s trait cheerfulness and trait seriousness. An experiment was conducted to further disprove aspects of laughter and how it actually depends on a persons susceptibility to cheerfulness and humor. The article stated that there are many inconsistencies among media articles and corresponding studies that have claimed that laughter is a definite factor in pain reduction. Although laughter does have an effect on pain reduction, influences on pain tolerance are more closely related to emotional traits rather than relaxation and opioid production. The peer reviewed article studied subjects of different trait cheerfulness and trait seriousness. The subjects were instructed to watch the funny film or video presented to them and then indicate the effects of laughter on their chronic pain directly after the video ended, and 20 minutes later. An ANOVA pain survey was the tool used to collect the information presented by the subjects. The study found that “enjoyment displays mediate the effects of humor on pain perception and over long time spans individuals high in trait cheerfulness would be better off (Ruch, Velker, Zweyer) .” Tis being said, individuals with less serious personalities have a higher pain tolerance when their cheerfulness and humor perception in heightened. The study also found that it requires genuine laughter and happiness for pain reduction to be increased. If a person tries to fake laugh or smile, there will be no affect on pain tolerance. Overall, The peer reviewed article “Do cheerfulness, exhilaration, and humor production moderate pain tolerance?” found that there were many consistencies with prior studies done on the effects of laughter and pain tolerance. Although there is no pain correlation with relaxation or opioid production, genuine laughter does effect pain

tolerance especially in people with a higher trait cheerfulness. I greatly enjoyed studying this concept, and I found it intriguing that laughter can play a role in pain tolerance. Nowadays, medication is a huge factor in how people deal with chronic pain, but studies such as this one verify that there are natural ways to cope with persistent pain. Part 2: The most beneficial part of completing these research and media assignments have been developing skills to help me find articles and information that are accurate and relevant. I was never the best at finding information on topics and these assignments really helped me expand my knowledge in that aspect. I think that these assignments were not as beneficial as they could have been. I would have rather focused more on a diverse spectrum of psychology and the way the brain works. I am super intrigued in science, especially on a cellular level, so it would have been super awesome to be able to do more in depth research on a topic, rather than focus on media claims and the broad spectrum of psychology. I think that there was a lot of good that came from this assignments, and they helped me develop strong transferable skills. The skills I developed that will benefit me in my future are research, time-management, and analysis. All three assignments focused on psychological research, and they slowly progressed and became full-circle with this last assignment. To be able to complete these assignments along with the other quizzes, tests, etc. and other classes, I had to hone in on my time-management skills and make sure that I had adequate time to complete each assignment to the best of my ability. Lastly, through these assignments, my analytical skills were strengthened. To understand a peer-reviewed article, and reflect the information accurately, you have

to analyze each and every section. I think that analytical skills are an important life skill, and i’m glad I got the chance to work on mine. I think the purpose of these assignments were to help students develop skills that they can take with them regardless of their major. By completing these assignments, similar assignments in future endeavors will be made painless and straightforward. From a psychological standpoint, these research assignments will be very beneficial to students wanting a career in psychology.

Works Cited Zweyer, K., Velker, B., & Ruch, W. (2004). Do cheerfulness, exhilaration, and humor production moderate pain tolerance? A FACS study. Humor - International Journal of Humor Research, 17(1-2). doi:10.1515/humr.2004.009

Szalavitz, M. (2011, September 14). It’s No Joke: Why Laughter Kills Pain. Retrieved December 03, 2017, from http://healthland.time.com/2011/09/14/its-no-joke-whylaughter-kills-physical-pain/...