Assessing gelotophobia, gelotophilia, and katagelasticism in children: an initial study on how six to nine-year-olds deal with laughter and ridicule and how this relates to bullying and victimization

Abstract The study describes the development and initial assessment of a questionnaire for the assessment of the fear of being laughed at (gelotophobia), the joy in being laughed at (gelotophilia), and the joy in laughing at others (katagelasticism) in a sample of 386 six to 9 year olds. The 30-item measure (PhoPhiKat-30c) demonstrated a robust three-factor structure and satisfactory internal consistency (all ≥.68). An evaluation of the answering pattern of the children revealed that for between one third and half of the children fear of being laughed at seemed to be a concern for them. In self and teacher-reports, gelotophobia was related to victim-status and katagelasticism to bully-status. This initial study enables research in three dispositions towards ridicule and being laughed at in younger children. This closes a gap in the literature and should provide a better understanding on the role of laughter and ridicule in children