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Do you remember the last time you were laughing and simply could not stop? Perhaps it was a situation when you should not have been laughing at all.

This happened to one of us while accompanying a friend to family court in the middle of an unpleasant divorce case. It led to a rapid dash to the bathroom while desperately trying (and failing) to regain control—not quite the kind of emotional support this friend was looking for!

Another classic example is the cricket commentators Brian Johnston and Jonathan Agnew who laughed so much as they described the day's play in 1991 that they could not talk at all. But how and why does this happen?

In fact, although we typically associate laughter with amusement, most of it occurs for other, social reasons. For example, you are 30 times more likely to laugh if you are with someone else than if you are on your own. And you'll laugh more if you know your companion and like them.

Most laughter occurs during conversations, when people may laugh through contagion—catching the laughter from someone else. Studies show that when we see or hear someone laughing, this can trigger laughter in us almost automatically, promoting social bonding.

We often laugh to demonstrate agreement and understanding, and to cement friendship—for example, over shared recollections. We also laugh to reduce stress.

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