More on Playful Teasing

This follows on from my playful teasing post.

According to Berkeley psychologist Dacher Keltner, Ph.D, teasing is not only an important social tool but essential to healthy relationships. It also provides a way to break-the-ice with some one new.

The more satisfied couples are with their relationship, the more playful their signs and signals: coy smiles, the sticking out of the tongue, laughter, bizarre facial expressions, unusual voice inflection and physical touching wrapped around the aggressive core of the tease. Both partners feel more positive emotion after poking fun, says Keltner. Indeed, what is flirtation but a series of teases?

Exaggerated tone of voice, elongated vowels, unusual facial expressions, a little laugh just before or after the tease — a range of more or less subtle “paralinguistic” markers remind the tease that they are loved despite the flaw — and maybe even more for it.