People who laugh regularly are likely to have a more positive outlook on life compared to those who rarely laugh, academics have said.
A new study from the University of Jaén in Spain has found that laughter therapy can also reduce anxiety levels.
Prior research has concluded that people with lower anxiety levels often have a better life satisfaction compared to those with higher anxiety levels.
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During the trial, the team of researchers analysed the life satisfaction of 2,159 participants across 33 randomised clinical trials.
Academics converted each trial’s results into standardised mean differences (SMD), with 0.2 considered small, 0.5 moderate and 0.8 or higher large.
Laughing yoga was associated with a SMD of 1.02 (large) for reducing anxiety and a SMD of 1.28 for improving life satisfaction (large), the results have reported.
This shows that the participants in the laughter therapy group had greater life satisfaction compared to those in the non-intervention group.
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In addition, this reveals that anxiety levels were lower among the laughter therapy group compared to the non-intervention group.
The academics noted: “Laughter therapy could be beneficial in reducing anxiety levels and improving life satisfaction.”
Further randomised controlled trials are needed to solidify these findings, the authors have said.
The study has been published in the Journal of Happiness Studies.
