Beyond the Big Five: The fear of being laughed at as a predictor of body shame and appearance control beliefs

Abstract

Gelotophobia has been conceptualized as an individual difference variable concerned with the fear of being ridiculed by others’ laughter. Individuals high in gelotophobia are more prone to anticipate and overreact to teasing interactions. It has been suggested that certain personal features susceptible to ridicule, such as physical appearance, could be differentially exhibited among gelotophobes. This study (N = 163; 50.3% females) examined the associations between gelotophobia and body image-related measures controlling for Big Five personality traits. The results revealed that gelotophobia correlated to lower body appreciation and appearance control beliefs and higher body surveillance and body shame. Hierarchical regression analyses predicting these body image-related criteria showed that gelotophobia explained body shame and appearance control beliefs scores, even beyond the influence of gender, age, and Big Five personality traits. To our knowledge, this study contains the first empirical evidence of the relationship between the fear of being laughed at and body image. Further studies should be conducted to explore whether gelotophobia could be related to deficits in the perception of physical appearance.