What is "gelotophobia"

n. abnormal and persistent fear of being laughed at.

Gelotophobia is a fear of being laughed at, a type of social phobia. While most people do not like being laughed at, there is a sub-group of people that exceedingly fear being laughed at. Without obvious reasons, they relate laughter they hear, such as in a restaurant, to themselves and are uneasy. Since 2008, this phenomenon has attracted attention from scholars in psychology, sociology, and psychiatry, and has been studied intensively.

In his clinical observations, Dr. Michael Titze found that some of his patients seemed to be primarily worried about being laughed at. They tended to scan their environment for signs of laughter and ridicule. Furthermore, they reported that they had the impression of being ridiculous themselves. Additionally, Titze observed a specific movement pattern among them when they thought they were being laughed at—awkward, wooden movements that resembled those of wooden puppets. He described this state as “ Pinocchio-syndrome”. Two other behaviours related to laughter are gelotophilia - the joy of being laughed at and katagelasticism - the joy of laughing at others.