Search Results: describe the feeling

Here's a list of theories about why people laugh when someone trips/falls. It can be tricky to figure out why exactly it's funny, so determine by finding trends with other things that you find funny. For example, if you typically laugh at unexpected things in general, it might be the "incongruity" theory.

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1) Incongruity
Laughing because someone unexpectedly falls over is linked to incongruity (randomness). This term is used to describe why we laugh at things that convey ambiguity, logical impossibility, and inappropriateness. For example, it’s comical when we see clowns wear large shoes or when people have especially large noses.

2) False Alarm Theory
The laughter might be to alert others in the social group that the detected anomaly is trivial, nothing to worry about.

3) a huge portion of the stuff we find funny contains two elements:
1. Shock.
2. Safety.
Our laughter is a release of tension, a way of saying, "Don't worry. It looks bad, but it's actually not."

4) We are trying to make the other person feel better by demonstrating that we are aware of their plight. Humor is a great way to relieve social tension. It gives the person who tripped a chance to negate the embarrassment of the accident by joining in with the laughter and therefore reinforce group ties."

5) Schadenfreude & Asserting Superiority
Schadenfreude is the taking pleasure in the misfortune of others, which may stem from being thankful that it's not yourself who has been put in same the compromising situation. Some research has shown makes us "look better to ourselves".
The burst of laughter directly following someone’s misfortune can be an extension of feeling a “sudden glory.” Laughing at someone’s pain or public ridicule could be a way of belittling others