--- title: People Can Tell When You're Fake Lauging description: Your fake laughter is not fooling anyone, new research shows people can tell the difference. To test whether fake laughs are distinguishable from the real... canonical: https://time.com/88627/people-can-tell-when-youre-fake-laughing/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-06T15:16:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T07:40:06.911Z article:section: Health og:title: People Can Tell When You're Fake Lauging og:description: Your fake laughter is not fooling anyone, new research shows people can tell the difference. To test whether fake laughs are distinguishable from the real... og:url: https://time.com/88627/people-can-tell-when-youre-fake-laughing/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: People Can Tell When You're Fake Lauging twitter:description: Your fake laughter is not fooling anyone, new research shows people can tell the difference. To test whether fake laughs are distinguishable from the real... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # People Can Tell When You're Fake Laughing > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=fde6d2b8-8306-4cc9-b78a-e44ee8ac420b&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin May 6, 2014 3:16 PM UTC by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin May 6, 2014 3:16 PM UTC Your fake laughter is not fooling anyone, new research shows people can tell the difference. To test whether fake laughs are distinguishable from the real thing, UCLA researchers recorded spontaneous laughs between friends, as well as fake laughs. It turns out that you’re probably only convincing people with a fake laugh one-third of the time. When people let out a disingenuous chuckle, differences in speed and breathing make it more obvious that they’re faking it. “Quite a few fake laughs sound pretty good, but listeners seem to pay attention to certain acoustic features that are really hard to fake,” said study author Greg Bryant, an associate professor of communication studies at UCLA in a statement. When Bryant and his team sped up the fake laughs, they found that the faster they were, the more likely people were to think that they were real. Participants distinguishing between the laughter guessed wrong only half the time. Interestingly, in another experiment, the researchers slowed down the laughter and asked participants to say whether the laugh was from a human or an animal. Participants could not tell if real laughs were from a human or not. But they could definitely tell the fake laughs were human. “Across the animal kingdom, laughter signals ‘We’re in a play mode,'” Bryant said. “In fact, laughter is thought to have evolved from labored breathing during physical play. In this way, genuine laughter reveals our animal nature.” If you want to hear what fake and real laughs sound like, listen [here](http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/ucla-s-laughter-guy-dissects-features-of-counterfeit-chortling). 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