Relief Theory
Relief theory maintains that laughter is a homeostatic mechanism by which psychological tension is reduced. Humor may thus for example serve to facilitate relief of the tension caused by one's fears. Laughter and mirth, according to relief theory, result from this release of nervous energy. Humor, according to relief theory, is used mainly to overcome sociocultural inhibitions and reveal suppressed desires. It is believed that this is the reason we laugh whilst being tickled, due to a build up of tension as the tickler "strikes".
Read more about this topic: Theories Of Humor
Famous quotes containing the words relief and/or theory:
“If, as they say, God spanked the town
For being over-frisky,
Why did He burn all the churches down
And spare Hotaling’s Whiskey?”
—For the State of California, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“It makes no sense to say what the objects of a theory are,
beyond saying how to interpret or reinterpret that theory in another.”
—Willard Van Orman Quine (b. 1908)