Good Question: Why Do We Laugh?

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- By now, you've likely seen the video of Texas mom, Candace Payne, laughing while wearing a Chewbacca mask. In just four days it's been seen more than 138 million times. Most of us have laughed right along with her.

So what does laughter do for us? Good Question.

Maybe it's her laugh, or maybe it's just the fact that a mom is sitting in her car, by herself, in the middle of the day with a Star Wars mask on and just laughing away.

"It's part of our early nature evolution. It was a bonding factor," Clical Psychologist Mark Carlson-Ghost said.

Carlson-Ghost points out that we could laugh together before we could have conversations together.

"If you are stressed, it can be a huge tension-reliever," Carlson-Ghost said.

Studies have shown that laughter helps with stress, pain and conflict. Laughing is proven to lower stress hormones, boost immunity, ease anxiety and generally bring people together.

"There is research that shows that women tend to like potential mates that have a sense of humor," Carlson-Ghost said.

Carlson-Ghost said laughs, giggles, chuckles and chortles are all literally contagious -- much like how you may want to cry when you see someone crying or yawn when you someone yawning.

"It tends to draw people to you. People like folks who are humorous. I think it's an indication of good-heartedness, which is attractive," Carlson-Ghost said.

Carlson-Ghost says there is no solid evidence laughing helps lower blood pressure, but some studies have shown that laughing can help prevent heart disease.