Volume 32, Issue 1 -

The research investigated the view that using humor can be a form of social risk-taking, as the attempt at humor may not always be viewed positively by others. Prior research has shown that individuals’ levels of sensation-seeking, a personality variable related to risk-taking, was related to humor appreciation. Other research has shown that sensation-seeking also predicted the use of curse words, another form of verbal risk-taking. The present research tested two hypotheses: a) sensation-seeking positively relates to each of the four humor styles and b) the use of curse words also positively relates to each of the four humor styles. The results obtained from a large sample of undergraduate students partially supported the hypotheses. Multiple regression analyses using the hierarchical approach further showed that sensation-seeking predicted two of the four humor styles for men (i.e. affiliative, aggressive) and two of the four for women (i.e. aggressive and self-defeating). The use of curse words predicted variance not explained by variation in sensation-seeking in the use of the aggressive humor style in men and women and for the affiliative humor style only for men. Overall, men reported higher levels of aggressive humor, sensation-seeking, and cursing than women. Implications for theoretical perspectives on humor and social risk-taking are discussed.

Drawing from theory on humor styles, impression management, and workplace meetings, we conducted two survey studies of working adults to examine the role of positive and negative humor on meeting satisfaction. We began by investigating the positive effects of humor on meeting satisfaction as moderated by impression management. In an online survey of working adults, we found that humor use in meetings was positively related to meeting satisfaction. Impression management moderates this relationship, such that the positive relationship between the use of humor in meetings and meeting satisfaction is significantly stronger for individuals who report relatively low impression management. In a second study, we investigated perceptions of impression management use in meeting humor. Using an experimental 2×2 factorial design, we investigated how use of impression management strategies differentially impacts meeting attendees’ perceptions of humor styles. We found that affiliative humor resulted in greater meeting satisfaction than aggressive humor. Furthermore, use of impression management enhanced meeting satisfaction following aggressive humor and diminished meeting satisfaction following affiliative humor.

This paper synthesizes the literature on cognitive aging, emotion regulation, and humor, to provide a theoretical framework for the utility of humor in promoting successful cognitive aging. Many older adults experience some degree of cognitive decline, which is associated with reductions in functional status, independence, and overall quality of life. These losses can result in considerable stress that is chronic in nature. The following discussion proposes humor as a technique that older adults may use to reduce stress and protect cognitive abilities. Humor here is described as a form of cognitive reappraisal, allowing older adults to reappraise daily stressors. Further, it is speculated that humor’s protective value is in the reduction of chronic activation of the physiological stress response systems, which in turn may protect functional integrity of the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. Because older adults appear to have difficulty solving more complex jokes, we propose that low complexity, self-enhancing humor may be the most useful form of humor for older adults.

We investigated the relation between humor styles used by 1456 volunteer trainee teachers and their emotional intelligence and problem-solving skills. The participants completed the Humor Styles Questionnaire (HQS), Revised Schutte Emotional Intelligence Test (R-SSEIT) and Problem-Solving Inventory (PSI). The highest-scoring HQS subscale for each participant was taken as the index HQS subscale and the two adaptive HQS subscale (affiliative and self-enhancing) scores and two maladaptive HQS subscale (aggressive and self-defeating) scores were added together in order to calculate each participant’s preferred total adaptive and maladaptive reflective humor style scores. Based on this score, every participant was identified as a maladaptive or adaptive reflective humor user. Women had better PSI and R-SSEIT scores compared to men (p<0.001). The highest index HQS subscales were aggressive humor (234, 36.6%) for men and affiliative humor (334, 40.9%) for women participants. Five hundred fifty women (67.4%) and 264 men (32.4%) were identified as adaptive humor dominant (x 2 =49.757, p<0.001). Adaptive humor styles (affiliative r=0.293, and self-enhancing r=0.263) were positively correlated with EI, while there was a negative relation between maladaptive humor styles (aggressive r=−0.294, and self-defeating r=−0.273) and EI. Affiliative humor and self-enhancing humor were positively correlated with problem-solving skills whereas aggressive humor and self-defeating humor were negatively correlated with problem-solving skills. The adaptive humor styles (affiliative r=−0.429, and self-enhancing r=−0.365) were negatively correlated with PSI, and positively correlated with maladaptive humor styles (aggressive r=0.426, and self-defeating r=0.323). At linear regression analysis, it was confirmed that humor styles were in correlation with EI and PSI. At binary logistic regression analysis, female gender (OR=1.9), and possessing higher levels of problem-solving skills (OR=1.058) and EI (OR=1.011) were identified as independent factors for using adaptive dominant humor styles.

In interactions, the culture of the participants influences their contributions and interpretations. Stand-up comedians articulate contemporary culture by making mutually manifest cultural beliefs and representations within the performance space, and teach the audience how to use them. This paper investigated how Nigerian stand-up comedians employ cultural assumptions and representations in their performances. Using relevance theory for analysis and seven routines from seven Nigerian stand-up comedians as the data, this study explored how Nigerian stand-up comedians bring shared cultural knowledge into their performances. Nigerian stand-up comedians joke with culture by manipulating shared cultural representations, distorting collective knowledge, manipulating stereotypes and projecting personal beliefs. By joking with cultural beliefs and representations within the performance space, Nigerian stand-up comedians mediate and negotiate what “contemporary culture” should be.

A central aspect of humor is its social function in relating to others and in performing gender. Drawing on insights from interactional sociolinguistics and gender studies, this article explores the relationship between humor and gender in the context of one US instructional tv cooking show The Pioneer Woman . The gender element, while essential to performed humor, is often neglected in research on humor, language, and the media; therefore, this paper looks into how humor is signaled in the cooking show individually and jointly. Humorous joking of the female host Ree Drummond is discussed, specifically self-directed humor and teasing as expressed in personal stories and exaggeration. The ambiguity of the humorous messages reveals contradictory messages: on the one hand, self-deprecating humor reveals feelings of inadequacy for not meeting gendered status quo, and on the other hand, teasing and self-deprecation function as a persuasive strategy to promote the celebrity’s cooking and brand.