Humor research

Humor research is a multidisciplinary field which enters the domains of psychology, philosophy, linguistics, sociology, history and literature. More recently, computational humor, a subdomain of the computer science and artificial intelligence emerged, which uses computers to model humor.[1] Research in humor has been done to understand the psychological and physiological effects, both positive and negative, on a person or groups of people. Research in humor has revealed many different theories of humor and many different kinds of humor including their functions and effects personally, in relationships, and in society.

Approaches to humor research

Humor research deals with a wide variety of issues,[1] which can be categorized according to several theories of humor. A delineation between two distinct types of laughter, Duchenne and non-Duchenne, must be made to determine which theory applies.[2]

Duchenne vs. non-Duchenne laughter

Duchenne laughter refers to laughter that is stimulus-driven and linked to some positive experience. This is usually the result of a perceived social incongruity. Non-Duchenne laughter refers to laughter that is unconnected to any emotional experience, but rather originates in the prefrontal, premotor, and motor areas of the brain. The study of humor often observes the former, as it can be tested in an experimental design, whereas an experimenter cannot provide a stimulus to evoke non-Duchenne laughter as it requires no stimulus.

Cognitive neuroscience

Cognitive neuroscience has provided insight into how humor is neurologically realized. Brain imaging techniques such as fMRI and PET scans have been implemented in this subfield of humor research. These techniques have been used to support affect-based humor, showing areas of activation in the amygdala and sila, key areas of the brain involved in laughter perception, and humor appreciation. Cognitive neuroscience attempts to study humor providing a "mechanistic framework for understanding the contagiousness and affect-inducing properties of laughter, and hence the evolution of laughter as a signal.”[2]

Positive psychology and play research

Studies within play research have provided correlates to the study of humor, as play often takes on a humorous demeanor. A child's social play often invokes the use of jokes, non-serious social incongruity, physical slapstick humor. Studies on how play "promot[es] social cohesion, cooperation, and even altruism,"[2] have been used to describe humor's function. Laughter is often a byproduct of playful social interactions, and can therefore be viewed as serving a similar function as play. It can be said that the perception and appreciation of humor decreases aggression and stress while promoting cooperation and fairness. Play research can provide a functional look at humor in its relation to social interactions.

Evolutionary psychology

Evolutionary psychology attempts to answer why it is adaptive for an individual to be rendered playful and elicit positive affect and play tendencies, while in the face of non-serious social incongruity.

Benefits of humor

Psychological benefits

A journal article[3] in 2006 examined the psychological benefits of humor. It looked at humor as moderator of life stress and humor's effect on depression. In general, the conclusion suggested that humor may help a person cope with stress in life and it may also help a person fight depression. A Situational Humor Response Questionnaire was distributed to determine subjects sense of humor. Those who scored high in this questionnaire tended to show a low relationship between life stresses and disturbed mood than those with a lower sense of humor score. A second study tested subjects' ability to produce humor. Those who were able to produce humor in an impromptu setting tended to a low relationship between life stresses and disturbed mood than those who were less able to produce humor. A third test involved subjects' ability to produce humor in stressful situations. Those who were able to produce humor had a low relationship between life stresses and disturbed mood than those who were less able to produce humor.

In 2009, a study examined the different humor styles as mediators between self-evaluative standards and psychological well-being.[4] There were four central styles of humor examined in the study:

The study[4] found that higher levels of affiliative humor predicted higher levels of social self-esteem and lower levels of depression. Higher levels of self-enhancing humor predicted higher levels of social self-esteem and reduced depression. Higher levels of self-defeating humor predicted lower levels of social self-esteem and higher levels of depression. Aggressive humor did not predict social self-esteem or depression. Greater endorsement of positive self-evaluative standards was associated with higher affiliative and self-enhancing humor and with lower self-defeating humor. Greater endorsement of negative self-evaluative standards was associated with higher self-defeating humor and with lower affiliative and self-enhancing humor.

Humor in interpersonal relationships

Humor in marriage

In 2002, a study[5] was conducted on the functions of humor in close relationships. The study examined three types of humor:

Positive humor is expected to be related to intimacy and marital satisfaction. This relation was true for the wives, but not for the husbands. This suggests that whether or not husbands use positive humor, it has nothing to do with how closely they feel to their partner or their marital satisfaction. Research suggests that instrumental humor is negatively related to marital satisfaction and is an indicator of potential future marital deterioration. Results showed that husbands acknowledged using instrumental humor in their relationship in relation to demand-withdrawal, in which the wife demands and the husband withdraws. Wives, on the other hand, did not acknowledge the use of instrumental humor in this communication pattern. This seems to indicate that men more often withdraw than women, in this case, with the use of humor. Negative humor was not related to any of the other humor measure in the study. This makes sense considering that put-downs or hurtful humor does not tend to lead to laughter or humor appreciation. Negative humor items in the questionnaire given to the participants described expressing negative emotion. Negative humor somewhat correlated with demand-withdrawal for husbands and wives. This humor can be a form of passive aggressiveness where the one using the humor is not taking responsibility for the put-down or hurtful joke, and in doing so, avoiding, or withdrawing from, conflict.

Measuring responses to humor

When someone finds something funny, there are different ways of expressing it. Common responses of humor include laughing and smiling. In 2008, a study[6] was conducted using 155 undergraduate students at North London University in order to measure responses to humor using a British comedy. The participants were divided into one of three categories: watched a video of the comedy, listened to an audiotape of the comedy, or read a script of the comedy. Approximately half of the participants were observed by an overt video camera and half were observed by a covert video camera. Results showed that participants laughed and smiled much more frequently when watching a video of the comedy and listening to the audiotape of the comedy than when reading a script. The difference in the frequency of smiling and laughing between the video and the audiotape was not significant. Participants laughed and smiled more frequently when observed by a covert video camera than an overt video camera. Aspects of the video and audiotape such as visualization of the acting, auditory representation, and also the presence of audience laughter significantly increase the frequency of laughter and smiling.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 M.P. Mulder, A. Nijholt (2002) "Humour Research: State of the Art"
  2. 1 2 3 Gervais, Matthew.; Wilson, David. S., Barrett (2005). "The Evolution and Functions of Laughter and Humor: A Synthetic Approach.". The Quarterly Review of Biology Research 80 (4): 395–430. Cite uses deprecated parameter |coauthors= (help)
  3. ↑ Capps, D. (May 2006). "The Psychological Benefits of Humor.". Pastoral Psychology 54 (5): 393–411. doi:10.1007/s11089-005-0007-9.
  4. 1 2 Kuiper, N.A.; McHale, N. (July 2009). "Humor styles as mediators between self-evaluative standards and psychological well-being.". Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary And Applied 143 (4): 39–376. doi:10.3200/JRLP.143.4.359-376.
  5. ↑ de Koning, E.E.; Weiss, R. L. (2002). "The Relational Humor Inventory: Functions of humor in close relationships.". American Journal of Family Therapy 30 (1): 1–18. doi:10.1080/019261802753455615.
  6. ↑ Martin, G.; Sadler, S. J.; Barrett, C. E.; Beaven, A. (2008). "Measuring responses to humor: How the testing context affects individuals' reaction to comedy.". Humor: International Journal of Humor Research 21 (2): 143–155. doi:10.1515/HUMOR.2008.007.

External links

Organizations associated with humor research

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