What Made Freud Laugh: An Attachment Perspective on Laughter

In her characteristically engaging style, Nelson explores a topic that has fascinated and frustrated scholars for centuries. Initially drawn to the meaning of laughter through her decades of work studying crying from an attachment perspective, Nelson argues that laughter is based in the attachment system, which explains much about its confusing and apparently contradictory qualities.

Laughter may represent connection or detachment. It can invite closeness, or be a barrier to it. Some laughte...