Nervous Laughter: Causes, Effects & How to Stop It

80% of Laughter Isn’t Funny—And It’s Costing You Connections

Imagine spilling your coffee in a meeting and bursting into giggles while everyone stares. We’ve all had those cringeworthy moments of nervous laughter. The good news? You can replace it with habits that make you look—and feel—more confident.

Have you ever found yourself laughing at the wrong time? Nervous laughter can happen in difficult or uncomfortable situations.

If you nervous laugh, don’t worry. You’re not alone!

Nervous laughter is a way of relieving tension and stress in situations where you feel uncomfortable. But it becomes a problem when it causes rifts in relationships or makes others uncomfortable.

There are ways to overcome nervous laughter. But first, watch our video below to learn what nervous laughter is:

What is Nervous Laughter?

Nervous laughter is your body’s way of easing stress when you feel uncomfortable. It acts as a defense mechanism to avoid painful emotions.

What is another word for nervous laughter? Nervous laughter is sometimes called incongruous laughter, inappropriate laughter, or dimorphous expression—when one emotion (like fear) produces an expression of another (like laughter).

Professor of Evolutionary Psychology Robin Dunbar explains it this way^{1https://www.headspace.com/articles/whats-so-funny}: “We call the experience of a single emotion which gives rise to an expression normatively consistent with a different emotion incongruous (or ‘dimorphous’) expressions of emotion.”

Neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran proposed^{2https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9824844/} that the original role of laughter in human societies was to show that the person or thing being laughed at was not a threat. It signaled that they did not need to be scared or worried.

Nervous laughter does a similar thing. When you laugh at something uncomfortable, you tell yourself it’s not a big deal.

The problem is that we sometimes laugh at things we shouldn’t be laughing at. Researcher and author Robert R. Provine, in his book Laughter: A Scientific Investigation, writes that:

80% of human laughter isn’t caused by anything funny!

Provine and his research assistants analyzed 1,200 “laugh episodes” by observing and listening to conversations in public places. Only 10% to 20% of laughter was a response to jokes^{3https://www.apa.org/monitor/jun06/laughing}, he found. Professor Robert R. Provine of the University of Maryland Baltimore County notes^{4https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/articles/200011/the-science-of-laughter}: “Only 10% to 20% of the laughter [in conversation] was a response to jokes.”

So don’t think you’re alone if you laugh at something that’s not funny!

Even though nervous laughter can hinder connection and relationship building, it doesn’t mean you intend to hurt anyone. It can confuse or hurt other people’s feelings if you’re in a difficult or sad situation.

Why Nervous Giggles Are Secretly Sabotaging Your Bonds

Nervous laughter can damage relationships by happening at inappropriate moments. Many people use nervous laughter to help them relax. It regulates anxiety in tense moments.

But here’s the problem: People may think you don’t care about what they shared—or that you’re laughing at their hardship.

Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience Sophie Scott from University College London explains^{5https://thisisyourbrain.com/2023/07/taking-laughter-seriously-with-dr-sophie-scott/}: “Nervous laughter is people trying to get other people to join in in that stressful situation and other people aren’t joining in so it remains nervous because it’s not working.”

The Good Side of Laughter

At the right time, laughter has many beautiful properties. In the short-term, laughter tends^{6https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/advan.00030.2017} to increase the endorphins released by your brain. Endorphins are the body’s natural painkiller.

Laughter helps lower stress. In some instances, it has been linked^{6https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/advan.00030.2017} to a boosted immune system.

“Laughter is the best medicine.”

Does that mean that eating some veggies and laughing a lot will get you through the winter without so much as a common cold? Sadly, probably not, but laughter can be good for you!

Laughter also helps foster connection with others— aka your social health.

It does this by being a positive emotion you share with those around you. Laughter helps people relax and feel comfortable and share a moment of mirth. Create more of these moments of connection by improving your humor!

The Dark Side of Nervous Behavior

Unfortunately, where authentic laughter can help foster connection and improve social health, nervous laughter can cause rifts in relationships and hurt people’s feelings.

Are there any long-term consequences of frequent nervous laughter? Yes—over time, habitual nervous laughter can:

• Damage trust in relationships
• Create a reputation for insensitivity
• Prevent you from processing difficult emotions
• Increase social anxiety as you worry about laughing inappropriately
• Lead others to avoid sharing vulnerable moments with you

With 39% of the world’s adults^{7https://www.gallup.com/analytics/349280/state-of-worlds-emotional-health.aspx} reporting they worry for much of the previous day, stress-related behaviors like nervous laughter are becoming increasingly common. In the U.S., 19.1% of adults had an anxiety disorder^{8https://www.nami.org/about-mental-illness/mental-health-by-the-numbers/} in the past year, and 11% of children aged 3-17^{9https://www.cdc.gov/children-mental-health/data-research/index.html} have been diagnosed with anxiety problems—conditions that often manifest as nervous laughter.

Additionally, 83% of U.S. workers^{10https://www.singlecare.com/blog/news/stress-statistics/} suffer from work-related stress, making workplace settings a prime environment for nervous laughter during feedback sessions, meetings, or awkward interactions.

But why does your brain pick laughter instead of another reaction?

The Real Triggers Fueling Your Awkward Laughs

What causes inappropriate emotional responses like nervous laughter? Nervous laughter is often the result of emotional or psychological causes, though it can link to several medical conditions. Typically, nervous laughter is a way for you to regulate emotions. It’s a subconscious way for your mind to signal that you’re OK.

For example, you may accidentally trip in the grocery store only to realize a moment later that you’re laughing. This instance of nervous laughter may be your subconscious self masking how uncomfortable you feel at that moment and signaling to others that everything is alright.

Clinical Psychologist Joe Nowinski explains^{1https://www.headspace.com/articles/whats-so-funny}: “When we laugh at a good joke or a comic routine, we tend to feel more relaxed afterward. Nervous laughter serves a similar function, allowing the individual to discharge anxiety and relax a bit.”

Here are some common psychological reasons for nervous laughter:

Feeling Anxious

If you’re anxious, your thoughts and actions might not always match. Laughter can be a way to try to regulate your anxious emotions and signal that you’re OK. It can also be a coping mechanism to move from difficult situations and complex emotions.

Conversations Around Trauma

If you find yourself laughing while talking about trauma from your past, this may be your body’s way of distracting yourself from painful emotions you’re not yet ready to process. Laughter is a way to avoid challenging and painful memories.

This is also the reason many people crack jokes at inappropriate, tense, or stressful times. It is a way to avoid difficult emotions and relieve stressors. Making a joke during a tense moment can momentarily break the discomfort—but it can also signal that you’re not taking the situation seriously.

Awkward Situations

You may laugh at awkward situations such as dropping a plate of food in a crowded cafeteria. Since laughter can be a way to relieve awkward tension, this may be your instinct for responding to embarrassment.

While Someone Else is Laughing Nervously

Laughter is contagious—even when it’s inappropriate. You may find yourself giggling in response to someone else’s laughter.

While Witnessing Someone’s Pain

In the 1960s, Yale professor and researcher Stanley Milgram conducted a series of obedience experiments^{11https://www.worldcat.org/title/obedience-to-authority-an-experimental-view/oclc/668026} in which nervous laughter was observed.

In his research, he asked participants to administer shocks of increasing intensity to strangers. The “strangers” were confederates (actors) who weren’t shocked—but the study participants didn’t know that. Participants displayed nervous laughter as a sign of tension and discomfort.Milgram’s findings help explain why we laugh when we see a video of someone falling.

Mental Health Conditions

Is nervous laughter a sign of a deeper psychological issue? Sometimes, yes. While occasional nervous laughter is normal, frequent or uncontrollable nervous laughter can be linked to:

• Anxiety disorders: Chronic worry and nervousness can trigger inappropriate laughter as a coping mechanism
• Social anxiety: Fear of judgment may cause nervous laughter during social interactions
• Depression: Some people mask sadness or emptiness with inappropriate laughter
• PTSD: Trauma survivors may laugh when discussing traumatic events as an emotional shield

If your nervous laughter interferes with your daily life or relationships, it may be worth exploring with a mental health professional.

Medical and Neurological Causes

What is the medical term for nervous laughter? The medical term for pathological nervous laughter is pseudobulbar affect (PBA)—a condition characterized by sudden, uncontrollable episodes of laughing or crying that don’t match how you actually feel.

While most nervous laughter is psychological, some medical conditions affecting the nervous system can cause or worsen inappropriate laughter:

Pseudobulbar Affect (PBA)

PBA is a neurological condition where you laugh or cry suddenly and uncontrollably, regardless of your true emotions. It results from damage to the brain areas that control emotional expression.

Causes of PBA include:

• Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
• Stroke
• Multiple sclerosis (MS)
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
• Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias
• Brain tumors

People with PBA may laugh during serious conversations or cry at neutral events. Unlike psychological nervous laughter, PBA episodes are often more extreme and harder to control.

Neurological Conditions

Several conditions affecting the nervous system can trigger inappropriate laughter:

• Multiple sclerosis: Damage to nerve fibers can disrupt emotional regulation
• Parkinson’s disease: Changes in brain chemistry may affect emotional responses
• Epilepsy: Certain types of seizures (gelastic seizures) can cause uncontrolled laughter
• Hyperthyroidism: Overactive thyroid can cause anxiety and nervous behavior, including laughter

Medications and Substances

Some medications and substances can cause or worsen nervous laughter:

• Antidepressants: Particularly during initial treatment or dose changes
• Anti-anxiety medications: Paradoxical reactions can occur
• Cannabis: Can trigger inappropriate giggling
• Alcohol: Lowers inhibitions and can cause nervous laughter in social situations

If you suspect your nervous laughter is related to a medical condition or medication, consult your healthcare provider. They can evaluate whether a neurological condition or medication adjustment might help.

Positive and Negative Effects of Nervous Laughter

Nervous laughter is complex—it can serve both adaptive and maladaptive functions depending on the context.

Positive Effects (Adaptive Functions)

Self-regulation: Margaret S. Clark, Professor of Psychology at Yale University, suggests: “Perhaps laughter serves a self-regulation function. That is, it is ordinarily associated with happiness and may help to down-regulate the nervousness.”

Tension release: Nervous laughter can help discharge stress hormones and provide temporary relief from anxiety.

Social signaling: It can signal to others that you’re not a threat and help diffuse tense situations.

Coping mechanism: For some, it’s a way to get through difficult moments without becoming overwhelmed.

Negative Effects (Maladaptive Functions)

Relationship damage: Others may perceive you as insensitive, immature, or uncaring.

Emotional avoidance: Laughing instead of processing emotions prevents you from healing and growing.

Increased anxiety: Worrying about laughing inappropriately can create a self-fulfilling cycle of anxiety.

Professional consequences: In workplace settings, nervous laughter can undermine your credibility and authority.

Prevents authentic connection: It creates a barrier between you and others during vulnerable moments.

While laughter interventions reduced workplace stress symptoms by up to 15%^{12https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/21582440241300561} in research studies, uncontrolled nervous laughter highlights the need for better stress management techniques.

Your Step-by-Step Guide to Conquering Nervous Laughter

Can nervous laughter be controlled or suppressed? Yes! You may be wondering at this point if there’s any hope for overcoming nervous laughter. As with any habit, it won’t change overnight, but it’s possible to re-train your patterns.

Here’s how to do that.

#1 Replace Nervous Laughter with a Positive Nonverbal

It’s hard to stop a habit just by telling yourself to quit. Especially an automatic habit like nervous laughter. The best thing to do is replace it with something positive. Any time you hear yourself start to nervous laugh or feel a nervous laugh bubbling up, try one of these behaviors instead:

• A slow triple nod
• A head tilt
• Murmuring ahh or hmmm as you listen or are with someone
• If you can, excuse yourself

This will give your body something to do to displace the nervous laughter.

#2 Notice Your Patterns

The next step to stopping nervous laughter is collecting data—what is causing your nervous laughter? It can take some time to identify patterns and habits. While brushing your teeth every night, think about your nervous laughter triggers during the day.

Do your best to foster curiosity rather than judgment. If you don’t realize how often you use a nervous laugh, it may be easy to feel discouraged or upset with yourself as you’re collecting data.

Remind yourself that you’re collecting this data so that you can make a change!

Don’t just think about what caused the nervous laughter. Think about why: Was it a person? A topic? A situation?

Action Step: Take a piece of paper and draw five columns (or open up a spreadsheet on your phone with five columns). At the top of each of these columns, write one of the following questions:

• Where was I?
• Who was I with?
• What happened right before my nervous laughter?
• What time was it?
• How did I feel emotionally?

Fill in the answers to these five questions. As you collect your data, pay attention to any patterns that arise.

Depending on the automatic response to nervous laughter, you may not even realize that you are doing it. Ask a handful of trusted people you spend a lot of time around to point out when you are laughing. This could be a partner, your work bestie, or a housemate.

#3 Identify Your Why

As you become more aware of your nervous laughter habit, try to identify what purpose it is serving and what is triggering it.

Do you laugh to relieve tension? Are you filling the silence when you don’t understand what someone has said to you? Is it a way of avoiding a negative emotional state?

Once you know why you’re laughing, you can set implementation intentions.

Action Step: Once you’ve collected data, think through why you’re laughing in those moments. What is the purpose of your nervous laughter?

In this step of introspection, journaling, talking with a trusted individual, or meeting with a therapist may be helpful.

#4 Set Your Implementation Intention

Psychology professor Peter Gollwitzer researched^{13https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1999-05760-004} the power of setting intentions. His findings show that when you set a plan for how you’ll react in a particular situation, you’ll increase your success rate.

An implementation intention is an if-then statement.

Once you’ve found a pattern of what is triggering your nervous laughter, set an intention for how you will redirect your nervous energy in that instance.

Here are some examples of intention implementations:

• If my partner brings up an issue in our relationship, I will slowly nod and try to imagine how they feel.
• If my manager gives me constructive feedback, I will take a deep breath and remind myself they are giving me an opportunity for growth rather than telling me I’m bad at my job.
• If my friend says something I don’t hear, I’ll count to three in my head before asking them to repeat themselves.
• If I’m in a networking event and feel overwhelmed, I’ll focus on talking to one person at a time rather than getting overwhelmed with the entire crowd and nod my head slowly while they’re talking.

Play around with your “if-then”s until you find a combination that helps you overcome your nervous laughter!

Pro Tip: Writing down the intention can help you adapt to this new habit quicker. If, for example, you know that your manager’s feedback causes you to laugh inappropriately, jot down your intention before going into your performance review.

Actions Step: Once you know why you’re nervous laughing, set your implementation intentions. These “if-then” statements will help you become more conscious of your habits and prepare you ahead of time to swap out your nervous laughter for more intentional responses.

Write your implementation intentions down and put them somewhere you’ll regularly see. For example, you could make it the lock screen on your phone or write it on a sticky note that you put at eye level on the door that you’ll see as you walk out of your room in the morning.

#5 Practice Empathy

When you begin to laugh nervously while talking to a friend, take a deep breath and try to imagine how they’re feeling.

The goal of empathy is to share the feelings of the person you’re speaking with. This can help you focus less on how uncomfortable you feel in the moment and more on how frightened, overwhelmed, or sad they may feel.

To do this, focus on asking open questions that don’t assume an answer. Here are some examples of questions that may help you achieve a more profound understanding and empathy:

• How was that experience for you?
• Wow, I’m so sorry they told you that. What was your reaction?
• How did that conversation impact your day?

It may feel uncomfortable, but challenging yourself to enter into the emotions they are experiencing can help you center yourself and stop laughing.

#6 Relieve Tension Through Another Means

Because your body uses nervous laughter to release tension, choose another way to release that energy.

Here are some alternatives you could try to see what works for you:

• Deep breathing exercises: Practice box breathing (inhale for 4, hold for 4, exhale for 4, hold for 4)
• Yoga: Regular yoga practice can help you regulate your nervous system and reduce stress-related behaviors
• Tapping your foot: A subtle physical outlet for nervous energy
• Flicking a rubber band on your wrist: Provides a physical sensation to redirect focus
• Tapping your thumb and pointer finger together: A discreet grounding technique
• Coughing: Gives yourself a moment to regain composure

It may take a while, but try a few alternatives and see what works!

#7 Try Therapy or Cognitive Behavioral Techniques

Therapy can be particularly helpful if your nervous laughter is tied to anxiety, trauma, or mental health conditions. A therapist can help you:

• Identify the root causes of your nervous laughter
• Process emotions you’ve been avoiding
• Develop healthier coping mechanisms
• Address underlying anxiety or trauma

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is especially effective for nervous laughter because it helps you:

• Recognize thought patterns that trigger nervous laughter
• Challenge unhelpful beliefs (“Everyone will hate me if I don’t laugh this off”)
• Practice alternative responses in a safe environment
• Build confidence in emotional regulation

Many people find it helpful to meet with a therapist who can work with you individually to help you identify and work through why you’re laughing in certain situations.

#8 Excuse Yourself

We’ve all been there. Sometimes you start laughing and can’t stop—when that happens, go to the restroom or step outside for a moment and take a few deep breaths.

Often, just stepping out of the situation will help the laughter fizzle. Then, take a moment to center yourself before returning to the conversation that got you laughing.

#9 Apologize for Inappropriate Laughter

Depending on the situation, you may need to apologize for inappropriate laughter. Let the person or people you were with know that the laughter was coming from a place of feeling nervous rather than amusement.

Find the wording that feels most natural to you, but here’s one example of how you could phrase your apology:

“Hey [insert name], I’m so sorry I started laughing while you shared with me. I appreciate you trusting me with how you’re feeling. I struggle with laughing when I feel insecure or don’t know how to respond to a situation. I’m working on it, and in the meantime want you to know that I was not laughing because I thought what you are going through was funny. Rather, I felt inadequate to help you and didn’t know how to respond at that moment.”

Nervous Laughter FAQs

Final Thoughts: Overcoming Nervous Laughter

We’ve probably all experienced nervous laughter at some point, so don’t be too hard on yourself if you notice yourself laughing at an inappropriate moment.

However, if you find yourself using it as a coping mechanism and feel like it’s hurting your relationships, use these steps to overcome it!

• Identify the pattern. Create a spreadsheet and collect data over several weeks. Pay attention to where you are, who you’re with, what happened before you started laughing, what time it is, and how you feel.
• Track the answers to these questions until you start to notice a pattern. Maybe there’s a specific person, like your boss, who regularly causes you to laugh nervously, or perhaps it’s particular situations, like when you’re called on in a class or attending a significant networking event.
• Unravel your emotions and find your “why.” This can be a challenging step of the process, but it’s one of the most valuable. You may want to sit down with a therapist or journal through how you feel right before you start to laugh. This can help you understand the purpose of the laughter and think through different ways to replace this behavior.
• Set your if-then intention. Once you know why you’re laughing at inappropriate moments, you can start thinking through behaviors to replace them. Phrase them as “if-then” intentions to help you remember when to implement the new behavior. Write down your intention and put it somewhere you will see. For example, you could set it as your phone lock screen or stick a sticky note with your intention on the corner of a mirror that you pass on your way out the door in the morning.

Be gracious towards yourself! If nervous laughter is a habit, it will take a while to replace that habit with something else. In the meantime, beating yourself up over it will not help. If anything, it will only make you feel more discouraged and helpless to break the laughter habit.

Remember that 80% of laughter in human conversation isn’t caused by humor^{3https://www.apa.org/monitor/jun06/laughing}—it’s a social tool. When you transform your nervous laughter into more intentional responses like empathy, deep breathing, or yoga practice, you’re not just stopping a bad habit. You’re building stronger, more authentic connections.

If you want to learn more about habits, read this article, Habits: How to Form Better Ones and Break Bad Ones.