Читать книгу Making Happy People: The nature of happiness and its origins in childhood - Paul Martin - Страница 32

Truly happy people usually have a good sense of humour (although there is a certain form of superficial happiness, signified by a cheesy smile and a gleam in the eye, which seems to lack any humour or irony). Conversely, sad or depressed people are generally notable for their lack of hilarity.

Humour helps us roll with the blows. The ability to see the funny or absurd side of life is a useful antidote to misfortune and makes us more resilient. It helps us cope with stress, relieves tension, and can make bad situations seem less threatening. The eighteenth-century poet Matthew Green put it like this: ‘Fling but a stone, the giant dies. / Laugh and be well.’

The relatively few scientific studies that have delved into this area have found that humour has a range of psychological and physiological benefits, with no known side effects. Like sleep, humour is safe and pleasant to use. Experiments have shown that making people laugh can temporarily boost certain aspects of their immune system, potentially making them more resistant to infection and disease. Humour can certainly reduce the biological effects of stress, as measured by changes in the levels of the stress-related hormones adrenaline and Cortisol. Research has also confirmed that humour in the workplace is correlated with better working relationships, greater job satisfaction and increased productivity. The most creative and productive parts of an organisation are often the noisiest.

Humour is a social lubricant which can help to forge relationships and strengthen existing ones. As such, it promotes connectedness, the most important of all building blocks of happiness. It is probably no coincidence that lonely hearts ads seem to stipulate ‘GSOH’ more often than ‘good looks’ or ‘own house and car’. Humour is especially handy in difficult social situations, by enabling us to tackle awkward issues in a non-threatening way. Many a true word …