We realize that something doesn't match up. There are several theories that aim to explain why things are funny, how laughter works and why exactly we do it. In comedy, this often means that any kind of logic or familiarity is going to be replaced with something entirely different. But not for them. It fits with current scientific approaches, it conforms and relates to our everyday experience of humor, and its also explanatory. They have to understand what the rhyme overall means. Humor. Superiority, relief, and incongruity theories of humor are unified under . they are based on some objective characteristics of a humorous text or other act (situation, event, picture, etc.). In the historical fiction novel, Dead End in Norvelt, by Jack Gantos, he includes examples of humor to improve his story. The incongruity, the playing with expectations as such, is that the second line of the joke is the listener and this query made assumes the next answer will be a name not a sound. If I told you a joke where Etruscans were the main actors, you might not find it funny. This play then leads to a feeling of delight in the form of humor or mirth. Your human perspective makes this use of the brush seem incongruous (def. Its not like a piece of music. Even our vernacular Get it? question, indicates that one has to understand the ideas involved to find humor. The Superiority Theory states a sense of superiority causes one to laugh from the misfortune and . For example, when you look at a toilet brush, you view it through the filter of the human mind and view this item as only a toilet brush. other humor theories began to challenge the dom-inance of the superiority theory: the relief theory and the incongruity theory. Another way to think about this playful or non-serious approach to incongruity is to think about the difference in a dead-pan performance versus a clown. Similarly, in their review, Stieger, Formann, and Burger (2011) reported that self-defeating humor was linked to depression and loneliness, whereas self-enhancing humor was related to beneficial outcomes. Laughter and mirth, according to relief theory, result from this release of nervous energy. Recent scholars have proposed several theories explaining the underlying mechanisms of humor. The superiority theory is concerned with the affective response that often accompanies comic amusement, which it maintains is an enjoyable feeling of superiority to the object of amusement. With this collection of information, it is the hope that readers will better understand humor and its many benefits, while maybe even enjoying a few chuckles along the way. While more research is sorely needed, extant literature suggests that humor may have many benefits among patients, such as enhanced immunity and positive emotions, improved interpersonal relationships, reduced pain, and increased positive emotions (Gelkopf, 2011). A comprehensive look at how children are impacted by the experience of humor is described by Hogan (2003), who noted that humor benefits children in terms of enhanced social bonding, stress relief, and pain coping. Abstract knowledge refers to the way we understand things through our human filtersour words for things in the world and the categories we assign them into. Thank you very much, for your good work! This seems fairto think about something as a human is to have a certain understanding or perception of that thing. The use of humor in medicine has also been studied from the perspective of healthcare workers. If we couldnt laugh we would all go insane. Whether you find the sly response of the joker in setting up the listener to make a silly owl noise, or the taking advantage of the form of the knock-knock joke to force the listener into the silliness, incongruity is at work here through and through. Theres nothing more to get than the fact that its absurd. Positive psychologists have a keen interest in the role of character strengths, which have been described as virtues that are crucial to human thriving (Peterson & Seligman, 2004). People with a sense of humor tend to be less egocentric and more realistic in their view of the world and more humble in moments of success and less defeated in times of travail. Among humans, laughter begins as early as four months of age (Lovorn, 2008). While there is a paucity of research addressing humor among older people, there is some evidence of its potential to enhance the quality of life within this group. This item is part of a JSTOR Collection. Incongruity is a mismatch between what we see or understand to be true and what we (consciously or unconsciously) expected. Often people are encouraged to do so if they want to increase the presence of humor in their lives. You didn't realise both actions would fit under this heading but now you do. Im writing an essay entitled Are Comedians an endangered species? At first the incongruity was unexpected, but now it cant be. Participants were categorized into either high or low sense of humor groups. Who's to say that object is only a toilet brush? Patient: Bullets!. Inferiority Theory. In M. W. Gallagher & S. J. Lopez (Eds.). Truth plays an important role as well: The juxtaposition of the two things often gives people a new insight into a familiar situation, he notes. Cooper, C., & Sosik, J. In previous studies, most researchers used two-element jokes (setup and punch line) as stimuli, based on experimental methods, to explore the humor process. Whether you are interested in learning more about the psychology of humor or in finding material that will make you laugh, plenty of books are available. In this respect, humor serves as both a defense mechanism and a way of coping with adversity. 2, surprised and amused (and sometimes offended) the public by breaking with the expectation that an artist's job was to . IT needs cognition, belief, and expectation to work. Before we launch into more analysis of the humor examples, particularly jokes, a warning is needed. Your perception only relates to part of the objectone of its possible uses. Hence they were an ancient group and had never experienced a light bulb. Describes the works of dermot bolger, e.m. forster, and kazuo ishiguro. It is a combination of all three concepts that attempts to fully encapsulate the complex subject of racial comedy. The LibreTexts libraries arePowered by NICE CXone Expertand are supported by the Department of Education Open Textbook Pilot Project, the UC Davis Office of the Provost, the UC Davis Library, the California State University Affordable Learning Solutions Program, and Merlot. For this reason, many famous quotes have been penned about the benefits of humor, such as: The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter. For example, in a study by Samson, Glassco, Lee, and Gross (2014), humorous coping applied after viewing negative pictures was found to increase positive emotions at both short- and longer term follow-up. The impact of humor on stress also was investigated in a medical study using humor as a complementary therapy among cancer patients (Bennett, Zeller, Rosenberg, & McCann, 2003). According to the Benign Violation Theory (BVT), something is perceived as humorous when it hits the "sweet spot," where there is not only a violation, but where the violation is also perceived as benign. d) Resolution shows how (within the story world) the incongruity arises. Bennett, M., Zeller, J., Rosenberg, L., & McCann, J. Szabo, A., Ainsworth, S. E., & Danks, P. K. (2005). I am free of all prejudice. Humor was the weapon of those whose lives were utterly in the hands of the executioners, those who were powerless to rebel or resist in any other way.. Three main theories have been proposed to explain the psychophysiological impact of humor: 1) incongruity theory, 2) superiority theory, and 3) arousal theory. Most texts will package the three main theories of humor comprehension in a sort of triumvirate that includes the superiority, release, and incongruity theories as the main contenders. The results indicated that adaptive humor was linked to higher levels of self-esteem and happiness. The same effect would occur if you saw someone cleaning a toilet with a toothbrush. According to this theory, people are able to . Raskin, Victor. First the doctor told me the good news: I was going to have a disease named after me. Once again, something funnysomething incongruousmakes clear to us the difference between the world as it really, simply is and how we perceive it. Legal. The Incongruity Theory reveals the affinity between philosophy and comedy and rebukes the argument that humor is "hostile and irresponsible" (Morreall) . Lovorn, M. (2008). Self-enhancing humor is an invaluable strength that supports human thriving. Additionally, in their comprehensive review, Cooper and Sosik (2012) reported that humor at the workplace was linked to enhanced relationships, more creative thinking, more collaborative negotiations, and better customer relations. New York: Coward McCann, 1941. In-congruity theories are essentially cognitive, i.e. You're now up to speed with incongruity theory. Twain had a point, as the research literature supports a relationship between humor and a wide range of positive psychosocial outcomes. One is called 'wit' and the other 'folly'. Cambridge Journals publishes over 250 peer-reviewed academic journals across a wide range of subject areas, in print and online. (2002). But whatever incongruity you focus on, the joke works on frustrating or playing around with expectations. Additionally, humor may represent a vital strength during middle childhood by helping kids to gain the support of a peer group and by enhancing self-esteem (Klein & Kuiper, 2006). The incongruity theory purports to define the formal object of comic amusement, which it locates in certain kinds of incongruity. Along with helping to promote resilience and cope with stress and illness, humor also serves as an invaluable strength associated with various indices of psychological wellbeing, work-related benefits, learning, and creativity. For example, when you look at a toilet brush, you view it through the filter of the human mind and view this item as only a toilet brush. A friend is performing at an open mic night. Samson, A., & Antonelli, Y. The initial question is nonsensical. If youve spent any time around children when they find something funny, they will quickly wear it out. Superiority theory, relief/arousal theory, and incongruity theory, propose different reasons as to what makes a situation humorous. Introduction. Coping mechanisms of physicians who routinely work with dying patients. (2009). There are problems with it, as there are with all theories. Who besides someone in a Monty Python sketch would use a fish to change a lightbulb?! One of these theories is incongruity theory (the other two are known as relief theory and superiority theory). By contrast, the present study used a humor corpus with the novelty of three-element verbal jokes to perform direct . It would do well to do a little more unpacking of terms like incongruity, absurdity, unexpected, and bizarre. There are samples, in the provided dataset, that uses the incongruity to create humor . Lets look at a couple of jokes with varying levels of complexity. Detrimental humor (e.g., sarcasm and self-disparaging humor), on the other hand, is believed to have potentially negative ramifications such as reduced relationship quality and low self-esteem (Martin, 2019). Contributions of humor as perceived by the terminally ill. Hickman, G., & Crossland, G. (2004). Wanzer, M., Booth-Butterfield, M., & Booth-Butterfield, S. (2005). Many of these journals are the leading academic publications in their fields and together they form one of the most valuable and comprehensive bodies of research available today. Thats a really interesting topic youre exploring. Experimental comparison of the psychological benefits of aerobic exercise, humor, and music. When in reality, it is simply a medium-sized tool for brushing. Gelkopf, M., Gonen, B., Kurs, R., Melamed, Y., & Bleich, A. There is no shortage of quotes about humor (and humorous quotes) available online; here are eight terrific examples: If I had no sense of humor, I would long ago have committed suicide. In the simplest and most general way of stating the idea, an incongruity is something that is unexpected, absurd, out of the ordinary, strange, or bizarre. Here, you have brought two pieces of sensuous knowledgeto call someone on a telephone and to present them with a wearable ringunder the single piece of abstract knowledge, a word that has multiple definitions, 'ring'. Engaging in a humor exercise is associated with a positive mood (Edwards, 2013) and positive cognitive appraisals (Maiolino & Kuiper, 2016). For instance, the Benign Violation theory of humor developed by a team of psychologists at the University of Colorado Boulder explains funny as a series non-threatening violations of social norms [source: McGraw and Warren].Essentially, a joke should violate some sort of cultural practice or value, but at a . For example, among physicians who do the exceedingly difficult work of treating cancer patients, humor has been reported as beneficial for patients, doctors, and relationships between the two (Joshua, Cotroneo, & Clarke, 2005). Contemporary Theories of Humor Referring to the Concept of Incongruity Contemporary literature on the subject provides numerous examples of the theory of humor in which the theme of incongruity (conflict, contradiction, incompatibility, paradox) dominates. Coping humor also has been associated with increased social support and self-efficacy among older community-dwelling adults (Marziali, McDonald, & Donahue, 2008). There is good reason to believe that humor at work leads to many positive outcomes, such as increased work performance and enhanced relationships with coworkers (Cooper, 2008). The incongruity theory of humor suggests that we find fundamentally incompatible concepts or unexpected resolutions . Here your friend has unknowingly brought two pieces of sensuous knowledgethe acts of looking up an answer online and of stealing it from the answers to the testunder the single piece of abstract knowledge, the idea of 'finding out an answer'. An elegant example is the Hotel de Matignon, a mansion built in Paris in 1725 that now serves as the residence of the French Prime Minister. Returning to the above joke, the answer of purple fish is not relevant at all to the question. Other genres such as the grotesque, the macabre, the horrible, the bizarre, and the fantastic all go against our aesthetic categories, and we don't find them funny, either. Ruch, W., Proyer, R., & Weber, M. (2010). Perhaps you fancy some jumbo shrimp? Ghayas, S., & Malik, F. (2013). As this report's scope of research has been set to be with academic theories published between 2016 and 2020, the absence of widely accepted communication theories between those years was quite obvious. Im writing an essay about humor and wanted to relate it to building relationships within sports, like volleyball. You dont ask about the difference between a single thing; comparison require two things. When people write jokes, or develop humor, they find ways to play with the concepts, but not so much as make the incongruities completely nonsensical. Vaughan, J., Zeigler-Hill, V., & Arnau, R. C. (2014). High comedy this isnt; its barely qualifies as a joke. Humor styles and their relationship to explicit and implicit self-esteem. You understand it better but the frog dies in the process. The incongruity is to be found in comparing the feeling one has at the end of the joke analysis to death. We laugh because we are surprised or because something seems to be out of place. The Theories of Humor and Laughter. Maiolino, N., & Kuiper, N. (2016). In this instance, a person starts out with a piece of abstract knowledge and unknowingly connects it to two pieces of sensuous knowledge. Schopenhaeur believes we relate to everything in the world through our perceptions. New York: Kluwer, 1984. We can give two forms to the claims of the superiority theory of humor: (1) the strong claim holds that all humor involves a feeling of superiority, and (2) the weak claim suggests that feelings of superiority are frequently found in many cases of humor. Humor in the classroom also is believed to promote social and emotional development among children (Lovorn, 2008), and we share a few ideas in our article Activities to Stimulate Emotional Development. Along with the Holocaust, dark humor has been used as a coping and survival mechanism across a broad range of life-threatening situations. Cann, A., & Collette, C. (2014). Defense mechanisms are believed to protect the ego from emotional pain through the unconscious minds distortion of reality. They are reviewed along with neurolinguistic approaches, evolutionary theories of humor and a few mixed and partial theories that have been presented. They also have to know the meanings of other words so as to substitute the right sort of words. Most humor researchers would agree that the core of humor is the perception of an incongruity (Forabosco 1992; Gervais and Wilson 2005; Scheel and Gockel 2017).Humor refers to a thought, statement, or event that is somehow incongruous or surprising and accompanied by humor cues that signal a nonserious mindset (Mulkay 1988). The next day, it transpires they have broken into the teacher's office and found it out by stealing the information from the test answers, where you simply meant them to Google it. By Yuvika Koul, CC BY-SA 3.0, via wikimedia. The relief theory ar-gues that laughter serves to facilitate the relief of pressure for the nervous system (Morreall,2020). For example, "hot poet" is funnier than "happy child" and "money and sex" is funnier than "love and sex" [7,8]. Wheres the incongruity? It publishes over 2,500 books a year for distribution in more than 200 countries. Relief Theory. But within me finding it funnier with each exposure, opens an avenue of critique for IT. Quoted in Huemer n.d. Really almost any placid, extraordinarily dry, joke from Wright might stand as a counter-example to the Relief theory. Inside of a dog its too dark to read. Built with love in the Netherlands. If you laugh at the same parts of movies that youve seen before, then that incongruity cant be unexpected. In contrast, a person who is not yet ready to face trauma may use mechanisms such as regression or suppression as protective mechanisms until ready to face the situation. For terms and use, please refer to our Terms and Conditions Clocks dont melt like that. This joke would have found itself quite at home in some of Lewis Carrolls works. Have a shot at working that one out. I hope thats not the case below, but youll likely find the jokes less funny for the analysis. 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