humour 2 - social function and real world Flashcards
humour as social ineraction
traditional theories (superiority, relief, incongruity) neglect relational aspects of humour –> focus on cognitive and emotional aspects
all elements of humour have a social dimension
- jokes are almost always about people
- mirth is typically shared with others
- laughter communicates one’s emotional state and is socially contagious
3 social functions of humour
self-disclosure / social probing
social norms violation and control
status and hierarchy maintenance
social function of humour - self-disclosure / social probing
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
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
–> protects against rejection by saying it was a joke
social function of humour - social norms violation and control
using rude or offensive language in a humorous manner –> violate social norms and reduces the likelihood that others will take offense, since everyone knows that humour is not to be taken seriously
to make fun of certain attitudes, behaviours, personality, appearances of others
–> e.g. ridiculing members of an out-group, or directed at deviant behaviours of individuals within an in-group
to intimidate others into conforming to the implied norms out of fear of embarrassment
social function of humour - status and hierarchy maintenance
reinforce own status in a group hierarchy
analysis of humour during conversations in six-person task groups –> 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
–> interrupting less also used less humour, seen as lower status
2 social functions of laughter
social bonding
social communication
social function of laughter - social bonding
laughter enables social bonding by promoting and helping to match and coordinate social interactions by coupling the emotions of group members
observation of small groups of people interacting in public spaces
–> results = most laughter followed seemingly mundane statements and questions
everyday laughter actually has little to do with humour per se, but instead is a social signal of friendliness and positive emotion generally
social function of laughter - social communication
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: more likely to laugh in presence of laughter and tend to rate the stimuli as being funnier (like a laugh track on tv)
sounds of laughter (particularly peculiar laughter) have a direct effect on the listener
induces positive emotional arousal - mirrors the emotional state of the laugher –> activating certain brain circuits in the listener
role of humour in enforcing stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination
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
prejudiced norm theory
social-psychological processes by which exposure to disparagement humour uniquely affects tolerance of discrimination against group members targeted by humour
a norm of tolerance of discrimination implied by disparagement humour –> communicates approval to others to behave in a prejudiced way
diminishes and trivializes its target
implied message that prejudice can be treated in a light-hearted, non-critical manner
people silently agree to suspend the usual or serious ways of responding to prejudice and discrimination
collectively redefine the situation as one in which they do not have to suppress prejudice out of fear of punishment
study of disparagement humour on attitudes towards targeted groups
experimental conditions: disparaging humour about men or lawyers
control conditions:
- nondisparaging humour
- non-humorous disparaging information
- nothing at all
results:
- exposure to disparaging humour had no effects on attitudes towards men or lawyers
discussion:
- 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 e.g. women
study of effect of disparagement humour on attitudes and acceptability of prejudice
randomly assigned to one of five conditions:
- disparagement jokes towards gay men
- disparagement jokes towards politicians
- serious disparaging comments towards gay men
- serious disparaging comments towards 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
results:
- attitudes:
–> found no effect of the disparagement manipulation on attitudes towards gay men or politicians
- acceptability of prejudice towards gay men or politicians:
–> significant effect of 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
–> no effect of type of disparagement on acceptability of prejudice against politicians (same in all conditions)
- acceptability of prejudice against other groups
–> the effect translated to acceptibility of prejudice against other disadvantaged groups e.g. women, elderly, transgender, lesbians etc.
–> remember this is one occasion (not daily like real life), social desirability (know it would be wrong to speak hatefully of gay men)
effect of disparagement humour - sexism in men study
male students from a UK University
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)
results:
participants exposed to sexist jokes reported higher levels of rape tendency compared to those exposed to non-sexist jokes
humour helping in the real world: stress and coping
potentially beneficial to our health through its use in coping with stress
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
humour to reduce stress - using superiority theory
poking fun at other people and situations that would normally be viewed as threatening or constricting
gain a sense of liberation and freedom from threat – improve well-being and self-efficacy
humour to reduce stress - using incongruity theory
because humour involves incongruity and multiple interpretations –> provides a way to reappraise a stressful situation from a new and less-threatening point of view
situation becomes less stressful and more manageable, and the individual is less likely to experience a stress response
humour to reduce stress - using relief theory
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
humour reducing stress - story study + evaluation (1+ 1-)
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
results:
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
strength = lab experiment allows to identify the direction of causality
limitation = artificial nature makes it difficult to generalize the findings to everyday experiences
humour reducing stress - COVID questionnaire study + evaluation (1+ 1-)
Italian healthcare workers completed an online questionnaire during the height of the 1st wave of the COVID-19 pandemic
- Perceived Stress Scale measure stress levels
- Coping humour Scale to assess reliance on humour to cope with stress
results:
use of humour based coping strategies associated with lower perceived stress due to COVID
strength = more ecologically valid study
limitation = correlational and cross sectional- not able to establish causality
humour NOT always reducing stress study
there are both adaptive and maladaptive components of humour (e.g., self-enhancing versus self-defeating)
psychology students completed measures of sense of humour, and well-being
results:
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
humour improving physical health study - Norway
15-year follow-up study of 53,556 participants in Norway
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:
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
findings indicate that sense of humour is a health-protecting cognitive coping resource
humour improving physical health study - comedians
Retrospective cohort study of 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
results:
- stand-up comedians died at significantly younger age (67) than their comedy actor (69) and Dramatic Actor (71) counterparts
- stand-up comedians = higher comedy rank was associated with shorter longevity
potential counfounds :
- counfound of 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?
humour improving physical health study - humour therapy
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
results:
- humour therapy = significant reduction in pain
- control = no effect
evaluation:
+ = design used random assignment of controls
- = control group had no intervention:
effects could be due social opportunity rather than humour
