Abstract Over the past two decades a significant body of research has examined the effects of individual differences in humor style or humor occurrences (e.g. specific jokes, memes) on behavior. However, research examining whether these individual differences in humor styles influence the effects of humor occurrences on work behaviors has been scant. Drawing on Conservations of Resources (COR) theory, this paper seeks to fill this gap by examining one form of humor, self-deprecating humor, and its interaction with self-defeating humor style to influence task persistence behavior. Findings from an experimental study of 124 management students show that self-deprecating humor can bolster a person’s persistence at an assigned task. Findings also show that individual differences in self-defeating humor style influence the relationship between self-deprecating humor and persistence. Individuals low in self-defeating humor style show a significant increase in persistence while those high in self-defeating humor style did not show any significant increase.
{"title":"Self-deprecating humor and task persistence: the moderating role of self-defeating humor style","authors":"David Cheng","doi":"10.1515/humor-2020-0141","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/humor-2020-0141","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Over the past two decades a significant body of research has examined the effects of individual differences in humor style or humor occurrences (e.g. specific jokes, memes) on behavior. However, research examining whether these individual differences in humor styles influence the effects of humor occurrences on work behaviors has been scant. Drawing on Conservations of Resources (COR) theory, this paper seeks to fill this gap by examining one form of humor, self-deprecating humor, and its interaction with self-defeating humor style to influence task persistence behavior. Findings from an experimental study of 124 management students show that self-deprecating humor can bolster a person’s persistence at an assigned task. Findings also show that individual differences in self-defeating humor style influence the relationship between self-deprecating humor and persistence. Individuals low in self-defeating humor style show a significant increase in persistence while those high in self-defeating humor style did not show any significant increase.","PeriodicalId":73268,"journal":{"name":"Humor (Berlin, Germany)","volume":"12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78821169","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract Given the relevance of humor for psychosocial assessment and promoting positive functioning, it is important to understand the relationship between humor and personality. A recent framework for describing individual differences in humor posits eight comic styles that can be measured using the Comic Style Markers (CSM). In total, 665 Portuguese adults (Mage = 32.1 years) completed the CSM and Cloninger’s Temperament and Character Inventory. CFAs supported modeling the CSM as a bifactor model. Bifactor indices suggested a general humor factor could be interpreted as a unidimensional construct, but that CSM items are multidimensional. A hierarchical analysis showed the styles could be represented at several levels of abstraction. A SEM analysis suggested certain styles had distinct associations with personality dimensions. These findings suggest that the use of certain styles (namely wit, sarcasm, and cynicism) was related to individual differences in temperament and character beyond a person’s overall humor potential.
{"title":"Psychometric properties of the Comic Style Markers – Portuguese version: applying bifactor and hierarchical approaches to studying broad versus narrow styles of humor","authors":"Paulo A. S. Moreira, Richard A. Inman","doi":"10.1515/humor-2021-0039","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/humor-2021-0039","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Given the relevance of humor for psychosocial assessment and promoting positive functioning, it is important to understand the relationship between humor and personality. A recent framework for describing individual differences in humor posits eight comic styles that can be measured using the Comic Style Markers (CSM). In total, 665 Portuguese adults (Mage = 32.1 years) completed the CSM and Cloninger’s Temperament and Character Inventory. CFAs supported modeling the CSM as a bifactor model. Bifactor indices suggested a general humor factor could be interpreted as a unidimensional construct, but that CSM items are multidimensional. A hierarchical analysis showed the styles could be represented at several levels of abstraction. A SEM analysis suggested certain styles had distinct associations with personality dimensions. These findings suggest that the use of certain styles (namely wit, sarcasm, and cynicism) was related to individual differences in temperament and character beyond a person’s overall humor potential.","PeriodicalId":73268,"journal":{"name":"Humor (Berlin, Germany)","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90981588","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract Public ridicule of a minority typically predicts a defensive response from the target of that humor. This is because public ridicule provides a polarizing spectacle, where the majority enjoys a humorous face reward, and solidarity, at the expense of that minority. Logically, we could expect a faith-based minority to be especially sensitive to public ridicule, since their face investment is greater, in inverse proportion to their social position and power, and because their group (and personal) identity is linked inextricably to what would normally be inviolable: a sacred text, a prophet, or deity. However, the official response from the LDS Church to the musical comedy The Book of Mormon defies this expectation. This paper analyses this response, in order to understand why a religious minority chose to creatively engage with what should have been a highly face-threatening satire.
{"title":"‘Do Mormons think The Book of Mormon is funny?’","authors":"A. Hale","doi":"10.1515/humor-2020-0134","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/humor-2020-0134","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Public ridicule of a minority typically predicts a defensive response from the target of that humor. This is because public ridicule provides a polarizing spectacle, where the majority enjoys a humorous face reward, and solidarity, at the expense of that minority. Logically, we could expect a faith-based minority to be especially sensitive to public ridicule, since their face investment is greater, in inverse proportion to their social position and power, and because their group (and personal) identity is linked inextricably to what would normally be inviolable: a sacred text, a prophet, or deity. However, the official response from the LDS Church to the musical comedy The Book of Mormon defies this expectation. This paper analyses this response, in order to understand why a religious minority chose to creatively engage with what should have been a highly face-threatening satire.","PeriodicalId":73268,"journal":{"name":"Humor (Berlin, Germany)","volume":"26 1","pages":"659 - 677"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79130585","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract This study aimed to investigate the relationship between intelligence and humor ability in a Turkish sample. The sample included 217 middle-school students with a wide range of intelligence measured by a Turkish intelligence test (ASIS). Humor ability was measured using the Humor Ability Assessment Form. Students were instructed to write captions for 10 cartoons that were as funny and relevant as possible. Seven experts rated the funniness of the captions and their relevance to the cartoons, yielding a total of 30,380 ratings (217 students × 10 cartoons × two criteria × seven experts). The findings showed that both general intelligence and the second-level components (verbal ability, visual-spatial ability, and memory) had high correlations with humor ability. Intelligence explained 68% of the variance in humor ability. Among the third-level factors, verbal analogical reasoning was the primary predictor of humor ability (β = 0.325, p < 0.001). Humor ability scores significantly differed across intelligence clusters, implying that highly humorous children may be highly intelligent.
摘要本研究旨在探讨土耳其人智力与幽默能力之间的关系。本研究以217名中学生为研究对象,采用土耳其智力测验(ASIS)测量其智力水平。幽默能力采用幽默能力评估表进行测量。学生们被要求为10幅漫画写下尽可能有趣和相关的说明文字。7位专家对图片说明的滑稽程度及其与漫画的相关性进行了评分,总共产生了30380个评分(217名学生× 10幅漫画× 2个标准× 7位专家)。研究结果表明,一般智力和二级智力(语言能力、视觉空间能力和记忆力)都与幽默能力高度相关。智商解释了68%的幽默能力差异。在第三层次因素中,言语类比推理是幽默能力的主要预测因子(β = 0.325, p < 0.001)。幽默能力得分在不同的智力群中有显著差异,这意味着非常幽默的孩子可能是非常聪明的。
{"title":"Are more humorous children more intelligent? A case from Turkish culture","authors":"Deniz Arslan, Uğur Sak, N. N. Atesgoz","doi":"10.1515/humor-2021-0054","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/humor-2021-0054","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This study aimed to investigate the relationship between intelligence and humor ability in a Turkish sample. The sample included 217 middle-school students with a wide range of intelligence measured by a Turkish intelligence test (ASIS). Humor ability was measured using the Humor Ability Assessment Form. Students were instructed to write captions for 10 cartoons that were as funny and relevant as possible. Seven experts rated the funniness of the captions and their relevance to the cartoons, yielding a total of 30,380 ratings (217 students × 10 cartoons × two criteria × seven experts). The findings showed that both general intelligence and the second-level components (verbal ability, visual-spatial ability, and memory) had high correlations with humor ability. Intelligence explained 68% of the variance in humor ability. Among the third-level factors, verbal analogical reasoning was the primary predictor of humor ability (β = 0.325, p < 0.001). Humor ability scores significantly differed across intelligence clusters, implying that highly humorous children may be highly intelligent.","PeriodicalId":73268,"journal":{"name":"Humor (Berlin, Germany)","volume":"19 1","pages":"567 - 588"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78044754","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Claire Schmidt: If You Don’t Laugh You’ll Cry: The Occupational Humor of White Wisconsin Prison Workers","authors":"Ian Brodie","doi":"10.1515/humor-2020-0091","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/humor-2020-0091","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":73268,"journal":{"name":"Humor (Berlin, Germany)","volume":"51 1","pages":"709 - 711"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80726581","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"William V. Costanzo: When the World Laughs: Film Comedy East and West","authors":"Patrice A. Oppliger","doi":"10.1515/humor-2021-0078","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/humor-2021-0078","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":73268,"journal":{"name":"Humor (Berlin, Germany)","volume":"31 19 1","pages":"703 - 707"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87173212","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Waterlow, Jonathan: It’s Only a Joke, Comrade! Humour, Trust and Everyday Life under Stalin","authors":"A. Astapova","doi":"10.1515/humor-2021-0076","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/humor-2021-0076","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":73268,"journal":{"name":"Humor (Berlin, Germany)","volume":"57 1","pages":"699 - 702"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85588965","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract The variables of gender and mother tongue are usually considered independently in humor research. This article aims to explore the role of gender and its interplay with mother tongue in the production, reception, and assessment of humor among 10 bilingual, bicultural couples. It investigates whether the gender patterns commonly observed are also evident in these couples’ conversations, namely that women laugh more than men (Mehu, Marc & Robin I. M. Dunbar. 2008. Naturalistic observations of smiling and laughter in human group interactions. Behaviour 145(12). 1747–1780.), that women laugh more about men than the reverse (Jefferson, Gail. 2004. A note on laughter in ‘male-female’ interaction. Discourse Studies 6. 117–133. DOI:10.1177/1461445604039445.), and that men produce more humorous utterances than women do (Ross, Elaina M. & Jeffrey A. Hall. 2020. The traditional sexual script and humour in courtship. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research 33(2). 197–218. DOI:10.1515/humor-2019-0017.). On average, the female bilinguals produced 29.6% more laughter pulses and laughed 7.4% more frequently, and their laughter episodes were consistently longer than their partners’. However, the participants’ mother tongue was found to have a stronger influence on their production and reception of laughables than their gender, and the native speakers produced more successful laughables, despite their partners’ high level of L2 proficiency. Interestingly, the couples’ self-assessments often did not match their actual laughing behavior and appeared to be clearly gendered; no couple considered the female partner to be funnier, and several men even questioned their partner’s sense of humor, while male humor was often praised.
在幽默研究中,性别和母语往往是两个独立的变量。本文旨在探讨性别及其与母语的相互作用在10对双语、双文化夫妇幽默的产生、接受和评价中的作用。它调查了通常观察到的性别模式是否在这些夫妇的谈话中也很明显,即女性比男性笑得多(Mehu, Marc & Robin i.m. Dunbar. 2008)。对人类群体互动中微笑和大笑的自然观察。行为145(12)。1747-1780),女人笑男人比男人笑得多(杰弗逊,盖尔,2004)。关于“男女”互动中的笑声。语篇研究117 - 133。DOI:10.1177/1461445604039445.),并且男性比女性产生更多幽默的话语(罗斯,伊莱娜M. &杰弗里A.霍尔,2020。传统的性剧本和求爱中的幽默。幽默:国际幽默研究杂志33(2)。197 - 218。DOI: 10.1515 /幽默- 2019 - 0017)。平均而言,女性双语者产生的笑声脉冲多29.6%,笑的频率多7.4%,她们的笑声持续时间也比她们的伴侣长。然而,研究发现,与性别相比,参与者的母语对他们产生和接受笑料的影响更大,尽管他们的伴侣的第二语言熟练程度很高,但母语人士制造出的笑料更成功。有趣的是,这些夫妇的自我评估往往与他们实际的笑行为不符,而且似乎有明显的性别差异;没有一对夫妇认为女性伴侣更有趣,一些男性甚至质疑他们伴侣的幽默感,而男性的幽默感经常受到赞扬。
{"title":"The variable of gender and its interplay with mother tongue in the humor and laughter of bilingual couples","authors":"Silja Ang-Tschachtli","doi":"10.1515/humor-2020-0133","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/humor-2020-0133","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The variables of gender and mother tongue are usually considered independently in humor research. This article aims to explore the role of gender and its interplay with mother tongue in the production, reception, and assessment of humor among 10 bilingual, bicultural couples. It investigates whether the gender patterns commonly observed are also evident in these couples’ conversations, namely that women laugh more than men (Mehu, Marc & Robin I. M. Dunbar. 2008. Naturalistic observations of smiling and laughter in human group interactions. Behaviour 145(12). 1747–1780.), that women laugh more about men than the reverse (Jefferson, Gail. 2004. A note on laughter in ‘male-female’ interaction. Discourse Studies 6. 117–133. DOI:10.1177/1461445604039445.), and that men produce more humorous utterances than women do (Ross, Elaina M. & Jeffrey A. Hall. 2020. The traditional sexual script and humour in courtship. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research 33(2). 197–218. DOI:10.1515/humor-2019-0017.). On average, the female bilinguals produced 29.6% more laughter pulses and laughed 7.4% more frequently, and their laughter episodes were consistently longer than their partners’. However, the participants’ mother tongue was found to have a stronger influence on their production and reception of laughables than their gender, and the native speakers produced more successful laughables, despite their partners’ high level of L2 proficiency. Interestingly, the couples’ self-assessments often did not match their actual laughing behavior and appeared to be clearly gendered; no couple considered the female partner to be funnier, and several men even questioned their partner’s sense of humor, while male humor was often praised.","PeriodicalId":73268,"journal":{"name":"Humor (Berlin, Germany)","volume":"57 1","pages":"589 - 611"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73592002","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract There is increasing evidence of specific medical and psychological benefits associated with humor within diabetes populations. The benefits of maintaining good diabetes control are also well established. The more general relationship between humor and diabetes control however remains unexplored. The purpose of this study was to examine if there was a difference between people with diabetes with an A1C ≤ 6.99% versus those ≥7.0% on four disparate types of humor. The sample consisted of 284 participants, 65.5% with type 1 diabetes, 68.3% female, 89.1% Caucasian, and 68.7% college educated. Participants completed the Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ) and were divided into two groups, A1C ≤ 6.99% and A1C ≥ 7.0%. The A1C ≤ 6.99% group scored significantly higher on both types of positive humor, affiliative humor (P < 0.01) and self-enhancing humor (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference between participants on either type of negative humor, aggressive humor (P > 0.05) or self-defeating humor (P > 0.05). Results indicate that good control (A1C ≤ 6.99%) is associated with positive humor. These findings provide evidence that there is an association between American Diabetes Association recommended levels of control and positive humor styles. Implications regarding positive humor and good diabetes control are discussed.
{"title":"Humor and A1C: the interaction between humor and diabetes control","authors":"David S. Greene, Nancy Dunavant King","doi":"10.1515/humor-2020-0124","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/humor-2020-0124","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract There is increasing evidence of specific medical and psychological benefits associated with humor within diabetes populations. The benefits of maintaining good diabetes control are also well established. The more general relationship between humor and diabetes control however remains unexplored. The purpose of this study was to examine if there was a difference between people with diabetes with an A1C ≤ 6.99% versus those ≥7.0% on four disparate types of humor. The sample consisted of 284 participants, 65.5% with type 1 diabetes, 68.3% female, 89.1% Caucasian, and 68.7% college educated. Participants completed the Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ) and were divided into two groups, A1C ≤ 6.99% and A1C ≥ 7.0%. The A1C ≤ 6.99% group scored significantly higher on both types of positive humor, affiliative humor (P < 0.01) and self-enhancing humor (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference between participants on either type of negative humor, aggressive humor (P > 0.05) or self-defeating humor (P > 0.05). Results indicate that good control (A1C ≤ 6.99%) is associated with positive humor. These findings provide evidence that there is an association between American Diabetes Association recommended levels of control and positive humor styles. Implications regarding positive humor and good diabetes control are discussed.","PeriodicalId":73268,"journal":{"name":"Humor (Berlin, Germany)","volume":"150 1","pages":"483 - 496"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-07-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76608275","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}