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A relationship between laughter and resentment is proposed. Resentment has two components: anger (arising from an injustice/injury to self) and shame, an inhibiting factor. Resentment is defined as shame and anger occurring simultaneously. It is hypothesized that laughter dispels shame, allowing the anger to dissipate, thus resolving the resentment. Social, psychological, and biological aspects of the process are described.
Videotaped recordings of persons discussing resentful situations were analyzed for verbal and facial indications of anger. Six interviews were used; in three of them subjects laughed, but in the other three there was no laughter. It was hypothesized that following triumphant laughter, expressions of anger will decrease and authentic smiling increase. Following laughter, there was a substantial decrease in the amount of anger expressed, as well as an increase in authentic smiling. Triumphant laughter seems to signal the resolution of resentment. For the subjects who did not laugh, no change occurred in anger expressions, and authentic smiling decreased. An unexpected finding involves asymptote as a possible mechanism of mood.