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How ethnic groups and clan systems influence humor styles: evidence from indigenous students in Taiwan

  • Meng-Hua Tsai

    Meng-Hua Tsai, PhD, Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling, National Taiwan Normal University. The research field is cognitive psychology, which mainly studies the humorous process of ethnic groups, the exploration of ethnic groups’ dominant abilities, and the thinking process of individuals.

         , Hsueh-Chih Chen

    Hsueh-Chih Chen, Dean of the College of Education, National Taiwan Normal University. Distinguish Professor of the Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling, National Taiwan Normal University. Research interests: Cognitive Psychology, Creativity Research, Humor Psychology, Cognition and Emotion, Experimental Technique.

     EMAIL logo     , Jen-Ho Chang

    Jen-Ho Chang, Associate research fellow at the Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica. Research interested in how selflessness and hypo-ego mindsets dynamically interact to enhance human well-being. Recent work examines the affective, cognitive, and motivational mechanisms that underlie mental health and other self-regulatory phenomena.

         , Yu-Lin Chang

    Yu-Lin Chang, Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling, National Taiwan Normal University. Research interests: Introduction to Integrated Learning, Instruction and Assessment for the Field of Integrated Activities, Teaching Practicum: Guidance, Teaching Materials and Methods: Guidance, Educational Statistics, Educational Psychology.

         and Hsin-Ying Chien

    Hsin-Ying Chien, Professor, Department of Early Childhood Education, National Taitung University. Research interests: Early Childhood Language Development, Children’s Chinese Teaching Strategies, Reading Comprehension Strategies Teaching and Teachers’ Professional Development Issues Competency-Oriented All-round Chinese Learning, Teaching young children executive function strategies.
Published/Copyright: May 3, 2022
HUMOR
From the journal HUMOR Volume 35 Issue 2

Abstract

The aim of this study is to compare the differences in humor styles between indigenous and Han Chinese populations in Taiwan. The differences in humor styles between clan systems (patriarchy or matriarchy) within indigenous people were further examined. A total of 442 indigenous students and 1,040 Han Chinese students (M age = 12.88) in Taiwan were recruited. The Chinese version of the Humor Styles Questionnaire was applied. The following are the main findings. (1) Indigenous students use positive humor (affiliative and self-enhancing humor) more often than do Han students. (2) Indigenous girls in matriarchal societies use aggressive humor more often than do indigenous girls in patriarchal societies. (3) Indigenous boys use aggressive humor more often than do girls in patriarchal societies. However, such evidence was lacking in matriarchal societies. From the perspective of social constructions, the present findings reconfirm the effect of social status on humor.

Keywords: clan systems; humor styles; indigenous students; matriarchy; patriarchy
Corresponding author: Hsueh-Chih Chen, Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling, National Taiwan Normal University, No. 129 Sec. 1 Heping E. Road, Taipei 10601, Taiwan, ROC, E-mail:

About the authors

Meng-Hua Tsai

Meng-Hua Tsai, PhD, Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling, National Taiwan Normal University. The research field is cognitive psychology, which mainly studies the humorous process of ethnic groups, the exploration of ethnic groups’ dominant abilities, and the thinking process of individuals.

Hsueh-Chih Chen

Hsueh-Chih Chen, Dean of the College of Education, National Taiwan Normal University. Distinguish Professor of the Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling, National Taiwan Normal University. Research interests: Cognitive Psychology, Creativity Research, Humor Psychology, Cognition and Emotion, Experimental Technique.

Jen-Ho Chang

Jen-Ho Chang, Associate research fellow at the Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica. Research interested in how selflessness and hypo-ego mindsets dynamically interact to enhance human well-being. Recent work examines the affective, cognitive, and motivational mechanisms that underlie mental health and other self-regulatory phenomena.

Yu-Lin Chang

Yu-Lin Chang, Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling, National Taiwan Normal University. Research interests: Introduction to Integrated Learning, Instruction and Assessment for the Field of Integrated Activities, Teaching Practicum: Guidance, Teaching Materials and Methods: Guidance, Educational Statistics, Educational Psychology.

Hsin-Ying Chien

Hsin-Ying Chien, Professor, Department of Early Childhood Education, National Taitung University. Research interests: Early Childhood Language Development, Children’s Chinese Teaching Strategies, Reading Comprehension Strategies Teaching and Teachers’ Professional Development Issues Competency-Oriented All-round Chinese Learning, Teaching young children executive function strategies.

  1. Research funding: This work was financially supported by the “Institute for Research Excellence in Learning Sciences” and the “Chinese Language and Technology Center” of National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) from The Featured Areas Research Center Program within the framework of the Higher Education Sprout Project by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Taiwan.

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Received: 2020-08-31
Accepted: 2022-01-10
Published Online: 2022-05-03
Published in Print: 2022-05-25

© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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https://doi.org/10.1515/humor-2021-0094
Keywords for this article
clan systems; humor styles; indigenous students; matriarchy; patriarchy

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Review Essay
  3. A systematic review of the effects of laughter on blood pressure and heart rate variability
  4. Full Length Articles
  5. Humor in Supreme Court oral arguments
  6. Relationship between autistic traits and emotion regulation using humor in the general population
  7. How ethnic groups and clan systems influence humor styles: evidence from indigenous students in Taiwan
  8. The temperamental basis of humor and using humor under stress in depression: a moderated mediation model
  9. The fat bride and the foolish messengers: humorizing the love theme in an early Islamic poem
  10. Interpretive challenges with American presidential discourse described as joking
  11. Book Reviews
  12. Marx, Nick: Sketch Comedy: Identity, Reflexivity, and American Television
  13. Marsh, Huw: The Comic Turn in Contemporary English Fiction: Who’s Laughing Now?
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