humour

Question 1

what is humour?

Answer 1

• humour is a psychological response characterized by the positive emotion of amusement, the appraisal that something is funny, and the tendency to laugh
• derives from the study of medicine of the ancient Greeks which taught that the balance of fluids in the human body, known as ‘humours’ controlled human health and emotion

Question 2

sense of humour

Answer 2

• the ability to perceive what is ludicrous, or amusing
• or of expressing it in speech, writing or another composition

Question 3

4 essential components of humour

Answer 3

1. social context
2. cognitive - perceptual processes
3. emotional response
4. vocal-behavioural expression of laughter

Question 4

social context

Answer 4

• We laugh/joke much more when we are with others than by ourselves
• Provides us with opportunities for play
  –> serves important social, emotional and cognitive functions

Question 5

cognitive - perceptual processes

Answer 5

• Involves an idea, image, text, or event that is in some sense absurd, surprising, or out of the ordinary
• We need to cognitively appraise the stimulus as non-serious or unimportant, putting us into a playful frame of mind at least momentarily

Question 6

emotional response

Answer 6

• comprises an emotional response that is elicited by these appraisals
• referred to as ‘mirth’
  –> “pleasurable feeling, joy, happiness”

Question 7

vocal-behavioural expression of laughter

Answer 7

Mirth is expressed as smiling/laughing, communicating to others we are in a playful state

Question 8

types of humour

Answer 8

• jokes
• spontaneous conversational humour
• unintentional humour

Question 9

jokes

Answer 9

• Short, amusing stories consists of a setup and a punch line
• The setup, which includes all but the last sentence, creates expectations in the listener about how the situation should be interpreted
• The punch line suddenly shifts the meaning in an unexpected and playful way, thus creating the perception of non-serious incongruity that is necessary for humour to occur

Question 10

spontaneous conversational humour

Answer 10

• 72% of daily laughter occurs spontaneously during social interactions either in response to funny comments or amusing anecdotes
• More context-dependent than joke-telling, and is therefore often not as funny when recounted afterwards
  –> “You had to be there”

Question 11

different forms of spontaneous conversational humour

Answer 11

• anecdotes
  –> relating an amusing story about oneself or someone else
• wordplay
  –> creating puns, witty responses, or wisecracks that play on the meaning of words
• irony
  –> a statement in which the literal meaning is different from the intended meaning

Question 12

unintentional humour

Answer 12

• physical or linguistic
• accidental physical humour includes minor mishaps and blunders.
  –> funny when they occur in a surprising and incongruous manner
  –> the person experiencing them is not seriously hurt or badly embarrassed
• accidental linguistic humour arises from misspellings, mispronunciations, errors in logic, and the kinds of speaker confusions called Freudian slips, malapropisms, and spoonerisms
  –> e.g. calling ‘miss’ ‘mum’ by accident

Question 13

4 theoretical explanations of humour

Answer 13

1. evolutionary theory
2. superiority theory
3. incongruity theory
4. relief theory

Question 14

socio emotional functions of humour - evolutionary theory

Answer 14

• contributes to survival
• a witty sense of humour, like linguistic skills and creativity, is an indicator of superior intelligence, enhancing one’s ability to compete successfully for resources
• laughter is a form of “vocal grooming” which, like physical grooming in primates, facilitates social bonding
• laughter is a “false alarm,” –> signaling to others that a stimulus or event is unimportant and non-serious

Question 14

evolutionary theory

Answer 14

• Humour and laughter are a universal aspect of human experience
• Developmentally, laughter is one of the first social vocalizations (after crying) emitted by human infants
  –> even children born deaf and blind can laugh without ever having perceived the laughter of others
• Laughter/humour has also been observed in chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans, and gorillas
• Laughter appears to have originated in social play and to be derived from primate play signals
• Humans have now adapted to mental play with words = humour

Question 15

superiority theory

Answer 15

• laughter originates in malice
  –> we laugh at what is ridiculous in other people
  –> feeling delight instead of pain when we see even our friends in misfortune
• humour is thought to result from a sense of superiority we feel from the belittling of another person or of one’s own past blunders or foolishness
• humour is ‘playful aggression’
  –> generations of men responded to their sudden victories in violent encounters with roars of triumph
  –> this early origin of laughter evolved into our modern-day humour, people can now use language to make fun of those inferior

Question 16

schadenfreude (Harm-joy)

Answer 16

the joy of another’s misfortune

Question 17

evaluation of superiority theory

Answer 17

• strength:
  –> studies show that aggressive elements in jokes and the perception of pain in others contribute to the funniness of the humour
• limitations:
  –> little evidence that all humour involves some form of aggression and that aggressive people enjoy all types of humour more than non-aggressive people
  –> animal studies suggest facial displays associated with humour (playful face, smiling, laughter) only occur in the context of friendly social/play activities, not aggression
  –> essentially unfalsifiable, Gruner defined playful aggression so broadly that he claims the theory seems to account for all humour

Question 18

incongruity theory

Answer 18

• Suggest that the perception of incongruity is the crucial determinant of whether or not something is humorous
  –> incongruous = surprising, peculiar, unusual, or different from what we normally expect
• However, for incongruity to be funny, it must also be resolved or “make sense” in some way
  –> resolution of incongruity in a joke is what makes it possible for us to get the joke
• We go back and search for an ambiguity in the joke setup that can be interpreted in a different way so that the punch line makes sense
  –> humour comprehension can be seen as a sort of problem-solving task

Question 19

brief summary of incongruity theory

Answer 19

• we predict the outcome of the set up
• if it as predicted, it isn’t funny
• if the punchline is surprising, we either:
  –> understand the rule that makes the incongruity funny and therefore laugh
  –> don’t understand the rule, don’t understand the incongruity and so we are puzzled

Question 20

Shultz & Horibe, 1974 - method

Answer 20

• presented different versions of several jokes to kids aged 6, 8, 10 and 12
• original:
  –> “Waiter, what’s this? … That’s bean soup, ma’am…
  I’m not interested in what it’s been… I’m asking what it is now”
• resolution removed:
  –> “Waiter, what’s this? … That’s tomato soup, ma’am…
  I’m not interested in what it’s been… I’m asking what it is now”
• incongruity removed:
  –> “Waiter, what’s this? … That’s bean soup, ma’am…
  That’s what I thought, but I wasn’t sure”
• kids then asked to rate how funny they are

Question 21

Shultz & Horibe, 1974 - results

Answer 21

• By age 8, children found the original versions of the jokes funnier than resolution removed or incongruity removed versions
• When children are old enough to engage in cognitive processes and problem solving, they appreciated resolvable incongruity and found jokes with these elements funnier
• Suggesting that resolution of incongruity is needed for something to be perceived as funny

Question 22

Deckers 1993

Answer 22

• Size weight illusions studies
  –> participants pick up items where there is an incongruity between size and weight of the items
  –> no resolution as to why object is heavier/lighter than expected
  –> people laugh when they pick up an object heavier/lighter than expected
• Incongruity without resolution is still capable of eliciting humour

Question 23

evidence against incongruity theory

Answer 23

• People seem to find a joke funnier when they “see the punch line coming” than when it is completely unexpected
  –> incongruity may not be needed for humour
  –> Or support for superiority theory? (people find it funny to beat someone to it)
• Much of incongruity-resolution research based on ‘jokes’
  –> particularly suited to the set-up and punch line joke format
  –> may not apply to other types of humour

Question 24

relief theory

Answer 24

• Humour is a way of relieving built up psychological tension or strain
  –> this is why we laugh whilst being tickled, due to a buildup of tension as the tickler “strikes”

Question 25

sources of laughter due to relief

Answer 25

• the successful outcome of a struggle
• the sudden perception of the weakness of an opponent
• when one builds up tension in anticipation of a difficult task and it turns out to be much less demanding than expected
• relief from pain or fear, or from socially imposed constraints on behaviour or language

Question 26

Godkewitsch (1976) - support for relief theory

Answer 26

• measured heart rate, skin conductance, blood pressure, muscle tension
• found that the more arousal, the more enjoyment and the funnier the humour is perceived to be

Question 27

Cantor, Bryant, and Zillmann (1974) - support for relief theory

Answer 27

• tested whether residual arousal associated with either strong positive or strong negative emotions could increase the enjoyment of subsequent humour - participants randomized to four different conditions:
  –> high arousal positive
  –> high arousal negative
  –> low arousal positve
  –> low arousal negative
• participants who had been exposed to either of the high arousal conditions (positive or negative) rated subsequent jokes as much funnier than those in the two low arousal conditions

Question 28

humour as social interaction

Answer 28

• Many of these traditional theories (superiority, relief, incongruity) neglect the relational aspects of humour
  –> they instead focus on cognitive and emotional processes taking place within the individual
• But all the elements of humour (form of play, non-serious incongruity, mirth, and laughter) have a social dimension
  –> jokes are almost always about people
  –> emotion mirth is typically shared with others
  –> laughter communicates one’s emotional state and is socially contagious

Question 29

the social functions of humour

Answer 29

• self-disclosure / social probing
• social norms violation and control
• status and hierarchy maintenance

Question 30

self-disclosure / social probing

Answer 30

• By making a racist, sexist, or political comment in a humorous manner, an individual can probe the degree to which such attitudes are tolerated or shared by others
• Walle (1976)
  –> observational study of conversations among customers and staff in an all-night diner
  –> found sexual jokes/innuendos were used to express interest in a possible sexual liaison as they were able to probe the other person’s level of interest

Question 31

social norms violation and control

Answer 31

• By using rude or offensive language in a humorous manner, one is able to violate social norms in a way that reduces the likelihood that others will take offense
  –> since everyone knows that humour is not to be taken seriously
• Humour can be used to make fun of certain attitudes, behaviours, personality, appearances of others
  –> ridiculing members of an out-group, or directed at deviant behaviors of individuals within an in-group
• Humour can be used to intimidate others into conforming to the implied norms out of fear of embarrassment

Question 32

status and hierarchy maintenance

Answer 32

• Humour can be used by individuals to reinforce their own status in a group hierarchy
• Robinson and Smith-Lovin (2001)
  –> analysed the use of humour during conversations in six-person task groups that were instructed to work together on a problem
  –> individuals who more frequently interrupted others in conversation (indicating higher status) were also more likely to engage in humour and make others laugh, even after controlling for the frequency of participation in group discussion

Question 33

social functions of laughter

Answer 33

1. social bonding
2. social communication

Question 34

social bonding

Answer 34

• Laughter helps to enable social bonding by promoting and helping to match and coordinate social interactions by coupling the emotions of group members
• Provine (1993) surreptitiously observed small groups of people interacting in public spaces and most of the laughter frequently followed seemingly mundane statements and questions
• Much of our everyday laughter actually has little to do with humour per se, but instead is a social signal of friendliness and positive emotion generally

Question 35

social communication

Answer 35

• Used to express positive emotions and also to elicit positive emotional responses in others
• Exposure to humorous stimuli in the presence of a laughter vs with no laughter
  –> the former are more likely to laugh and tend to rate the stimuli as being funnier
• Sounds of laughter (particularly peculiar laughter) have a direct effect on the listener
  –> induces positive emotional arousal that mirrors the emotional state of the laugher
  –> by activating certain brain circuits in the listener

Question 36

the role of humour in enforcing stereotypes prejudice and discrimination

Answer 36

• Many jokes make use of a stereotype about a particular group of people to enable the listener to resolve an incongruity and “get” the joke
• To resolve the incongruity, you need to be aware of the stereotype
• Disparagement humour = prompts amusement through belittling or defaming an individual or a social group
• Do jokes reinforcing negative stereotypes contribute to prejudice and discrimination?

Question 37

prejudiced norm theory

Answer 37

• Specifies the social-psychological processes by which exposure to disparagement humour uniquely affects tolerance of discrimination against group members targeted by humour
• Posits that a norm of tolerance of discrimination implied by disparagement humour communicates approval to others to behave in a prejudiced manner
• Disparagement humour diminishes and trivializes its target
  –> implied message that prejudice can be treated in a light-hearted, non-critical manner
• By sharing disparagement humour
  –> people silently agree to suspend the usual or serious ways of responding to prejudice and discrimination
  –> they collectively redefine the situation as one in which they do not have to suppress prejudice out of fear of punishment

Question 38

Olsen et al (1999) - effect of disparagement humour on attitudes towards targeted groups

Answer 38

• Experimental conditions:
  –> exposure to disparaging humour about men or lawyers
• Control conditions:
  –> exposed to nondisparaging humour, non-humorous disparaging information, or nothing at all
• Exposure to disparaging humour had no effects on attitudes towards men or lawyers
  –> however, the disparaged groups in these studies (men and lawyers) are relatively advantaged in the culture
  –> different results might have been found if the jokes had targeted more disadvantaged groups

Question 39

effect of disparagement humour on attitudes and acceptability of prejudice

Answer 39

• Mendiburo-Seguel and Ford (2019)
• recruited a representative sample
• randomly assigned participants to one of five conditions
  –> disparagement jokes towards gay men or politicians
  -> serious disparaging comments towards gay men or politicians
  –> no disparagement of either group
• participants then completed measures on their attitudes towards gay men and politicians and the acceptability of prejudice towards these groups
• found no effect of the disparagement manipulation on attitudes towards gay men or politicians

Question 40

acceptability of prejudice against gay men and politicians

Answer 40

• Significant effect of type of disparagement on acceptability of prejudice against gay men
• Participants felt that ridicule of gay men was more acceptable after exposure to disparaging jokes versus disparaging serious comments or no disparagement
• There was no effect of type of disparagement on acceptability of prejudice against politicians
• Does this effect translate to the acceptability of prejudice against other disadvantaged groups (i.e. women, children, elderly, transgender people, lesbians)?
  –> yes

Question 41

disparagement humour and discrimination

Answer 41

• Thomae & Vicki (2013)
• 96 male students at a UK university
• Participants were randomly assigned to either the sexist joke condition (1) or the nonsexist joke condition (2)
• After rating the jokes, participants completed the rape proclivity scale
  –> five written date rape scenarios asking participants how they would behave in the situations presented
• Participants exposed to sexist jokes reported higher levels of rape tendency compared to those exposed to non-sexist jokes

Question 42

how can humour help solve real world issues?

Answer 42

• stress and coping
• Humour may be potentially beneficial to our health through its use in coping with stress
• Stressed nation: 74% of UK ‘overwhelmed or unable to cope’ at some point in 2018
• High levels of stress (due to natural disasters, work/financial pressures, relationships etc) can have adverse effects on one’s mental and physical health
• Psychological appraisal and coping mechanisms can determine the effects of stressors on mental and physical health
• The ability to respond with humour in the face of stress and adversity may be an important and effective coping skill

Question 43

superiority theory in reducing stress

Answer 43

• By poking fun at other people and situations that would normally be viewed as threatening or constricting
  –> we gain a sense of liberation and freedom from threat
  –> improve well-being and self-efficacy

Question 44

incongruity theory and reducing stress

Answer 44

• Because humour involves incongruity and multiple interpretations, it provides a way to reappraise a stressful situation from a new and less-threatening point of view
  –> the situation becomes less stressful and more manageable, and the individual is less likely to experience a stress response

Question 45

relief theory and reducing stress

Answer 45

• A way of relieving built up psychological tension or strain
  –> laughter enhances your intake of oxygen, stimulates your heart, lungs and muscles (stimulating circulation and aiding muscle relaxation), and increases the endorphins that are released by your brain

Question 46

Newman and Stone (1996) - humour and reducing stress

Answer 46

• Male college students were instructed to create either a humorous or a serious narrative while watching a film depicting gruesome accidents in a lumber mill
• Humorous narrative:
  –> less emotional distress, lower physiological arousal (skin conductance, heart rate, skin temperature) compared to serious narrative
• indicates reduced stress response with the use of a humorous narrative

Question 47

evaluate Newman and Stone (1996)

Answer 47

• strength:
  –> lab experiment allows to identify the direction of causality
  –> random allocation
• limitation:
  –> artificial nature makes it difficult to generalize the findings to everyday experiences

Question 48

Canestrari et al (2021) - humour and reducing stress

Answer 48

• 625 Italian healthcare workers completed an online questionnaire during the height of the 1st wave of the COVID-19 pandemic
  –> the Perceived Stress Scale measure stress levels
  –> the Coping humour Scale to assess reliance on humour to cope with stress
• Use of humour based coping strategies associated with lower perceived stress due to COVID

Question 49

evaluate Canestrari et al (2021)

Answer 49

• strength:
  –> more ecological validity
• limitation:
  –> correlational
  –> cross-sectional
  –> not able to establish causality or long-term effects

Question 50

Kuiper et al (2004) - does humour always reduce stress?

Answer 50

• Humour may not always be the best medicine
• There are both adaptive and maladaptive components of humour –> e.g. self-enhancing vs self-defeating
• 137 Psychology students completed measures of sense of humour and well-being
• Adaptive self-enhancing components of humour showed beneficial effects
  –> associated with greater self-esteem, lower depression and anxiety, and more positive self-competency judgments
• Maladaptive self-defeating components of humour showed detrimental effects
  –> associated with poorer self-esteem, greater depression and anxiety, and poorer judgments of self-competence

Question 51

Romundstad et al (2016) - physical health and humour

Answer 51

• Cognitive, social, and affective components of their sense of humour were obtained, and examined associations with:
  –> all-cause mortality
  –> mortality due to CVD, infections, cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• Results showed the cognitive component of the sense of humour is positively associated with survival from:
  –> mortality related to CVD and infections in women
  –> mortality related to infections in men
• The findings indicate that sense of humour is a health-protecting cognitive coping resource

Question 52

stewart et al (2016) - humour and physical health

Answer 52

• Stand-up Comedians, Comedy Actors and Dramatic Actors
• Longevity within each group was examined adjusting for life expectancy by year of birth and their within group comedy rank
• Stand-up Comedians died at significantly younger age than their Comedy Actor and Dramatic Actor counterparts
• For Stand-up Comedians alone, higher comedy rank was associated with shorter longevity
  –> potential confounders: Due to stress/lifestyle of being a comedian?
  –> people with a great sense of humour are overly optimistic about their health
  –> comedians may take potential health risks less seriously, even engage in riskier behaviors?

Question 53

Tse et al (2010) - humour and physical health

Answer 53

• Examined the effectiveness of a humour therapy programme on relieving pain among older persons living in a nursing home with chronic pain
• Experimental group:
  –> 8 week humour therapy program
• Control group:
  –> those in another nursing home who were not offered the program
• Humour therapy:
  –> creating portfolios with funny books/photos/jokes/audio tapes/videos/ news clips/stories etc
  –> therapy sessions with jokes, lectures on humour research, laughing exercises, sharing funny stories, how to prioritise humour etc

Question 54

evaluate Tse et al. (2010)

Answer 54

• strength:
  –> experimental design = causality, random assignment controls for individual differences
• limitation:
  –> control group had no intervention = effects could be due social opportunity rather than humour