This is the fourth part of five about the essence of humor and what kind of effects it has on the human body and/or mind.

Humour comes with certain consequences. These can be distinguished by:

• physical behaviours
• social behaviours
• psychological behaviours
• emotional behaviours
• cognitive behaviours.

Emotional Behaviours

Psychological humour has a great revitalising aspect. Humour can protect against extreme stressful situations. In other words, humour poses the strength to discover the comical side of a tragic situation. Humour can create an atmosphere of openness and freedom. It can also reduce anxiety because fear brings the body in a state of restless vigilance (Truyen & Porteal, 1996).

When was the last time that you had a good laughter while being emotional and what was the situation in which it occurred?