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Who is Gelotophobic? Assessment Criteria for the Fear of Being Laughed at
Journal article

Who is Gelotophobic? Assessment Criteria for the Fear of Being Laughed at

Published in:
  • Swiss Journal of Psychology. - Hogrefe Publishing Group. - 2008, vol. 67, no. 1, p. 19-27
General Psychology
English Ruch and Proyer (2008) provided preliminary evidence for the validity of gelotophobia (the fear of being laughed at) by showing that a group of individuals diagnosed as gelotophobic could be discriminated from groups of shame-based neurotics, non shame-based neurotics, and normal controls by means of a self-report measure. The present study reanalyzes data aimed at identifying the set of items best suited for measuring gelotophobia and estimates the prevalence of gelotophobia in the four groups (N = 863). The application of several criteria led to a final list of 15 statements. Cut-off points for a slight, pronounced, and extreme expression of gelotophobia were defined. In the group of those clinically assessed as having gelotophobia, the cut-off points were exceeded by approximately 31%, 39%, and 22%, respectively. Only 7.1% did not exceed the cut-off point, suggesting that the self-report measure validly determines the presence of and measures the intensity of gelotophobia. Close to 12% of the normal controls exceeded the cut-off points, suggesting that gelotophobia can be studied as an individual differences variable among normal individuals.
Language
  • English
Open access status
closed
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Persistent URL
https://sonar.rero.ch/global/documents/69111
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