humour 2 - social function and real world

Question 1

humour as social ineraction

Answer 1

traditional theories (superiority, relief, incongruity) neglect relational aspects of humour –> focus on cognitive and emotional aspects

all elements of humour have a social dimension

• jokes are almost always about people
• mirth is typically shared with others
• laughter communicates one’s emotional state and is socially contagious

Question 2

3 social functions of humour

Answer 2

self-disclosure / social probing
social norms violation and control
status and hierarchy maintenance

Question 3

social function of humour - self-disclosure / social probing

Answer 3

making a racist, sexist, or political comment in a humorous manner, an individual can probe the degree to which such attitudes are tolerated or shared by others

observational study of conversations among customers and staff in an all-night diner
–> found sexual jokes/innuendos were used to express interest in a possible sexual liaison as they were able to probe the other person’s level of interest
–> protects against rejection by saying it was a joke

Question 4

social function of humour - social norms violation and control

Answer 4

using rude or offensive language in a humorous manner –> violate social norms and reduces the likelihood that others will take offense, since everyone knows that humour is not to be taken seriously

to make fun of certain attitudes, behaviours, personality, appearances of others
–> e.g. ridiculing members of an out-group, or directed at deviant behaviours of individuals within an in-group

to intimidate others into conforming to the implied norms out of fear of embarrassment

Question 5

social function of humour - status and hierarchy maintenance

Answer 5

reinforce own status in a group hierarchy

analysis of humour during conversations in six-person task groups –> were instructed to work together on a problem
–> individuals who more frequently interrupted others in conversation (indicating higher status) were also more likely to engage in humour and make others laugh, even after controlling for the frequency of participation in group discussion
–> interrupting less also used less humour, seen as lower status

Question 6

2 social functions of laughter

Answer 6

social bonding
social communication

Question 7

social function of laughter - social bonding

Answer 7

laughter enables social bonding by promoting and helping to match and coordinate social interactions by coupling the emotions of group members

observation of small groups of people interacting in public spaces

–> results = most laughter followed seemingly mundane statements and questions

everyday laughter actually has little to do with humour per se, but instead is a social signal of friendliness and positive emotion generally

Question 8

social function of laughter - social communication

Answer 8

express positive emotions and also to elicit positive emotional responses in others

exposure to humorous stimuli in the presence of a laughter vs with no laughter: more likely to laugh in presence of laughter and tend to rate the stimuli as being funnier (like a laugh track on tv)

sounds of laughter (particularly peculiar laughter) have a direct effect on the listener

induces positive emotional arousal - mirrors the emotional state of the laugher –> activating certain brain circuits in the listener

Question 9

role of humour in enforcing stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination

Answer 9

jokes make use of a stereotype about a particular group of people to enable the listener to resolve an incongruity and “get” the joke

to resolve the incongruity, you need to be aware of the stereotype

Question 10

disparagement humour

Answer 10

prompts amusement through belittling or defaming an individual or a social group

Question 11

prejudiced norm theory

Answer 11

social-psychological processes by which exposure to disparagement humour uniquely affects tolerance of discrimination against group members targeted by humour

a norm of tolerance of discrimination implied by disparagement humour –> communicates approval to others to behave in a prejudiced way

diminishes and trivializes its target

implied message that prejudice can be treated in a light-hearted, non-critical manner

people silently agree to suspend the usual or serious ways of responding to prejudice and discrimination

collectively redefine the situation as one in which they do not have to suppress prejudice out of fear of punishment

Question 12

study of disparagement humour on attitudes towards targeted groups

Answer 12

experimental conditions: disparaging humour about men or lawyers

control conditions:

• nondisparaging humour
• non-humorous disparaging information
• nothing at all

results:

• exposure to disparaging humour had no effects on attitudes towards men or lawyers

discussion:

• however, the disparaged groups in these studies (men and lawyers) are relatively advantaged in the culture
• different results might have been found if the jokes had targeted more disadvantaged groups e.g. women

Question 13

study of effect of disparagement humour on attitudes and acceptability of prejudice

Answer 13

randomly assigned to one of five conditions:

• disparagement jokes towards gay men
• disparagement jokes towards politicians
• serious disparaging comments towards gay men
• serious disparaging comments towards politicians
• no disparagement of either group

participants then completed measures on their attitudes towards gay men and politicians and the acceptability of prejudice towards these groups

results:
- attitudes:
–> found no effect of the disparagement manipulation on attitudes towards gay men or politicians
- acceptability of prejudice towards gay men or politicians:
–> significant effect of of type of disparagement on acceptability of prejudice against gay men
–> participants felt that ridicule of gay men was more acceptable after exposure to disparaging jokes versus disparaging serious comments or no disparagement
–> no effect of type of disparagement on acceptability of prejudice against politicians (same in all conditions)
- acceptability of prejudice against other groups
–> the effect translated to acceptibility of prejudice against other disadvantaged groups e.g. women, elderly, transgender, lesbians etc.

–> remember this is one occasion (not daily like real life), social desirability (know it would be wrong to speak hatefully of gay men)

Question 14

effect of disparagement humour - sexism in men study

Answer 14

male students from a UK University

randomly assigned to either the sexist joke condition (1) or the nonsexist joke condition (2)

after rating the jokes, participants completed the rape proclivity scale (five written date rape scenarios asking participants how they would behave in the situations presented)

results:

participants exposed to sexist jokes reported higher levels of rape tendency compared to those exposed to non-sexist jokes

Question 15

humour helping in the real world: stress and coping

Answer 15

potentially beneficial to our health through its use in coping with stress

74% of UK ‘overwhelmed or unable to cope’ at some point in 2018

high levels of stress (due to natural disasters, work/financial pressures, relationships etc) can have adverse effects on one’s mental and physical health

psychological appraisal and coping mechanisms can determine the effects of stressors on mental and physical health

the ability to respond with humour in the face of stress and adversity may be an important and effective coping skill

Question 16

humour to reduce stress - using superiority theory

Answer 16

poking fun at other people and situations that would normally be viewed as threatening or constricting

gain a sense of liberation and freedom from threat – improve well-being and self-efficacy

Question 17

humour to reduce stress - using incongruity theory

Answer 17

because humour involves incongruity and multiple interpretations –> provides a way to reappraise a stressful situation from a new and less-threatening point of view

situation becomes less stressful and more manageable, and the individual is less likely to experience a stress response

Question 18

humour to reduce stress - using relief theory

Answer 18

a way of relieving built up psychological tension or strain

laughter enhances your intake of oxygen, stimulates your heart, lungs and muscles (stimulating circulation and aiding muscle relaxation), and increases the endorphins that are released by your brain

Question 19

humour reducing stress - story study + evaluation (1+ 1-)

Answer 19

male college students were instructed to create either a humorous or a serious narrative while watching a film depicting gruesome accidents in a lumber mill

results:

humorous narrative = less emotional distress, lower physiological arousal (skin conductance, heart rate, skin temperature) compared to serious narrative

indicates reduced stress response with the use of a humorous narrative

strength = lab experiment allows to identify the direction of causality

limitation = artificial nature makes it difficult to generalize the findings to everyday experiences

Question 20

humour reducing stress - COVID questionnaire study + evaluation (1+ 1-)

Answer 20

Italian healthcare workers completed an online questionnaire during the height of the 1st wave of the COVID-19 pandemic

• Perceived Stress Scale measure stress levels
• Coping humour Scale to assess reliance on humour to cope with stress

results:

use of humour based coping strategies associated with lower perceived stress due to COVID

strength = more ecologically valid study

limitation = correlational and cross sectional- not able to establish causality

Question 21

humour NOT always reducing stress study

Answer 21

there are both adaptive and maladaptive components of humour (e.g., self-enhancing versus self-defeating)

psychology students completed measures of sense of humour, and well-being

results:

adaptive self-enhancing components of humour showed beneficial effects
–> associated with greater self-esteem, lower depression and anxiety, and more positive self-competency judgments

maladaptive self-defeating components of humour showed detrimental effects,
–> associated with poorer self-esteem, greater depression and anxiety, and poorer judgments of self-competence

Question 22

humour improving physical health study - Norway

Answer 22

15-year follow-up study of 53,556 participants in Norway

cognitive, social, and affective components of their sense of humour were obtained, and examined associations with:
–> all-cause mortality
–> mortality due to CVD, infections, cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

results:
cognitive component of the sense of humour is positively associated with survival from:

• mortality related to CVD and infections in women
• mortality related to infections in men

findings indicate that sense of humour is a health-protecting cognitive coping resource

Question 23

humour improving physical health study - comedians

Answer 23

Retrospective cohort study of Stand-up Comedians, Comedy Actors, and Dramatic Actors

longevity within each group was examined adjusting for life expectancy by year of birth and their within group comedy rank

results:

• stand-up comedians died at significantly younger age (67) than their comedy actor (69) and Dramatic Actor (71) counterparts
• stand-up comedians = higher comedy rank was associated with shorter longevity

potential counfounds :

• counfound of stress/lifestyle of being a comedian
• people with a great sense of humour are overly optimistic about their health –> comedians may take potential health risks less seriously, even engage in riskier behaviors?

Question 24

humour improving physical health study - humour therapy

Answer 24

effectiveness of a humour therapy programme on relieving pain among older persons living in a nursing home with chronic pain

• experimental group: 8 week humour therapy program
• control group: those in another nursing home who were not offered the program

humour therapy:
creating portfolios with funny books/photos/jokes/audio tapes/videos/ news clips/stories etc.
therapy sessions with jokes, lectures on humour research, laughing exercises, sharing funny stories, how to prioritise humour etc

results:

• humour therapy = significant reduction in pain
• control = no effect

evaluation:

+ = design used random assignment of controls
- = control group had no intervention:
effects could be due social opportunity rather than humour