Humour Processing The Factors that Play a Role in Understanding Humour

Abstract

Humour is universal and, as a creative aspect of language, it is one of the most important topics in the study of communication. Humour is also a crucial component in many different contexts of everyday life. Among other things, it can be seen as social glue that helps foster relationships (Samson, 2013). Pedagogical trends in recent decades have shifted towards the promotion of a more relaxed learning environment, with an emphasis on making learning fun. Justifications for the use of humour in education include improving attention control, promoting understanding, managing disruptive behaviour, creating a positive attitude towards the subject matter, and reducing anxiety. We owe “fun loving experiences” to our school-age children who display disorders such as fluency difficulties (Agius, 2018). Humour plays a role in coping with stressful situations in life on a daily basis, particularly when working with individuals with communication problems. Humour allows individuals to distance themselves from stressful situations, and to gain a degree of insight and objectivity (Manning, 2009). We read: “Humor creates a relaxed atmosphere and encourages communication particularly on sensitive matters” (McGhee, Goldstein, 1977, cited in: Manning, 2009: 36). Humour can be used to reduce stress and anxiety for children who display communication difficulties, such as those with fluency disorders (Agius, 2018). In this case, the stress associated with fluency disorders can increase in severity in certain contexts. Humour has also been shown to support individuals with illnesses. One of the examples is the case of the patient coping with cancer who discovered that humour and hope were very important elements in her recovery (Dr David Mibashan, in his foreword to Fenwick, 2004). Dr William Bucholz, an oncologist, wrote about the element of hope in a cancer patient: “Humor is like the seasoning that makes hope tasty. Humor adds the extra element for the will to live that goes beyond hope and that actually is the thing that turns an experience from tolerable to desirable” (Klein, 1998: 14). McGhee viewed humour Sandra Levey* City University of New York Lehman College https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5654-8575