Measuring responses to humor: How the testing context affects individuals' reaction to comedy
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G. Neil Martin
Abstract
Psychological studies of responses to humor employ a variety of different recording methods and modes of presentation, but few have addressed whether these methodological differences affect people's responses to comedy. In the present study, participants' expressive (laughter and smiling) and cognitive (ratings of funniness and enjoyment) responses to a popular British comedy program presented via videotape, audiotape, or in script form were measured. Behavioral response was recorded either covertly or overtly by a video camera. Mode of presentation significantly affected behavioral response: the videotape and the audiotape conditions generated significantly greater laughter and smiling than did the script condition. Although the presence of the camera was not regarded as obtrusive, its presence did inhibit laughter and depressed enjoyment (but not amusement). The paper suggests that research using humorous material should carefully consider the mode of presentation and the behavioral recording conditions employed.
© 2008 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, D-10785 Berlin
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Emotional responses to ridicule and teasing: Should gelotophobes react differently?
- Personality and humor appreciation: Evidence of an association between trait neuroticism and preferences for structural features of humor
- Measuring responses to humor: How the testing context affects individuals' reaction to comedy
- Remembering and anticipating stressors: Positive personality mediates the relationship with sense of humor
- Humor styles and personality-vulnerability to depression
- Relating humor preference to schizotypy and autism scores in a student sample
- Book reviews
