Gelotophobia, Gelotophiles, and Katagelasticists in Patients with Depression

Abstract

The article presents a study of gelotophobia (the fear of being laughed at) for depression. 32 patients with depressive syndrome and 33 mentally healthy people were examined with a complex of methods: clinical interview, the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale, gelotophobia, gelotophilia and katagelasticism questionnaire the PhoPhiKat, the Guilt and Shame Proneness scale (GASP), the Beck Depression Inventory, and the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire. The results showed higher gelotophobia (the fear of being laughed at) in patients with depressive syndrome in comparison with the control group, and, on the other hand, lower gelotophilia (the joy of being a target of laughter) and katagelasticism (the joy of laughing at others). No differences on gelotophobia were found in the subgroups of patients with depression within schizophrenia and affective disorders. Gelotophobia under depression was closely connected with social anxiety and the fear of negative evaluation, but was not associated with aggression. Although depression includes experiencing both guilt and shame, gelotophobia characterized only those patients who tended to experience shame. The results of the study allow to reveal specifics of the fear of being laughed at under depression, which may be used in clinical diagnostics and psycho-rehabilitation of these patients.

Keywords

• laughter
• fear of being laughed at
• gelotophobia
• gelotophilia
• katagelasticism
• depression
• affective disorders