competitors of incongruity theory are currently seen as even less able to provide an adequate an-swer to the basic question" (Levinson 1998, 564). they reply simply with "Thank you!" It has long been believed that humor and laughter play an important role in the maintenance of both psychological and physiological health and wellbeing in the face of stress (Lefcourt & Martin, 1986). Schopenhaeur believes we relate to everything in the world through our perceptions. Two main theories of humor studies can be identified. In other words, laughter is a function of anticipating a different outcome than what was expected. In previous studies, most researchers used two-element jokes (setup and punch line) as stimuli, based on experimental methods, to explore the humor process. Honestly, I hadnt given this much thought before perhaps other commenters can share their views but Ill point you toward an interesting read I just found by Nwankw (2021), which explores this trend toward self-censorship with reference to the comedians Trevor Noah and Basket Mouth. searching for some most common kind of humor. To do this, we need to discuss how incongruity theory states we see the world. Incongruity is something that occurs when things are not in harmony or keeping with the surroundings of other aspects of something. Clocks dont melt like that. They also have to know the meanings of other words so as to substitute the right sort of words. When in reality, it is simply a medium-sized tool for brushing. The superiority theory is concerned with the affective response The whole joke is just a chain absurdities, one seemingly more absurd than the next. How is this word play an incongruity? Realising that this more 'natural', instinctive way of seeing the world is in this moment a better way of seeing things as they really are gives us pleasure. Talbot, L., & Lumden, D. (2000). Raskin, Victor. This seems fairto think about something as a human is to have a certain understanding or perception of that thing. Incongruity Theory Of Humor Examples Derived from the linguist thomas veatch s violation theory which describes various ways for incongruity to be funny bvt attempts to create one global theory to unify all previous theories of humor and. Ulloth, J. Higueras, A., Carretero-Dios, H., Muoz, J., Idini, E., Ortiz, A., Rincn, F., Rodrguez del guila, M. (2006) Effects of a humor-centered activity on disruptive behavior in patients in a general hospital psychiatric ward. Samson, A., Glassco, A., Lee, I., & Gross, J. They never seem to tire of it. Laughter and mirth, according to relief theory, result from this release of nervous energy. And then we experience a sudden, shocking shift in perspective as our brains adjust to the new reality. So now that you understand the basics of incongruity theory, there is just one final part for you to understanddon't worry, we're almost there! Hence they were an ancient group and had never experienced a light bulb. Ruch, W., Proyer, R., & Weber, M. (2010). I was raised as an only child. The relief theory ar-gues that laughter serves to facilitate the relief of pressure for the nervous system (Morreall,2020). First, relief theory focuses primarily on the motivational mechanisms of interpersonal needs, positing that humor provides relief of tension. You and your friend are at a bar one summer and your friend has a paper fan. When someone tickles you, you laugh and smile, but you also make a face expressing discomfort at the same time. Its difficult to try to make sense of nonsense. Thank . Moving up the ladder of humorous complexity, lets take a look at a couple of knock-knock jokes. (2006). They are reviewed along with neurolinguistic approaches, evolutionary theories of humor and a few mixed and partial theories that have been presented. This is textbook IT. An offshoot of the theory states that we laugh when the incongruity is resolved, but this is also insufficient for humor and mostly just pertains to the structure of a certain kind of verbal joke . After watching a funny video, cancer patients reported significantly less stress, and a negative correlation was found between stress and amount of mirthful laughter. This is specifically a wordplay used as a witticism. Jack uses irony, schadenfreude, and the incongruity theory to bring his story to life. Even if one is familiar with the lightbulb form of joke, this particular one works because the answer supplied is a non-answer. Philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle have been trying to explain humor since ancient times. Here are 18 examples of studies showing evidence of humor as a strength. The editorial policy of the journal pursues the aims of the Institute: to promote the study of philosophy in all its branches: logic, metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, aesthetics, social and political philosophy and the philosophies of religion, science, history, language, mind and education. There are numerous positive benefits of humor, such as enhanced positive mood, life satisfaction, self-esteem, job performance, creativity, social bonding, and. 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). But basically, the kernel of the idea is that you experience something that does not fit easily within the particular context. And why not? White, E. B. and Katherine White. The response of none both increases and diminishes your perplexity. The incongruity theory of humor suggests that we find fundamentally incompatible concepts or unexpected resolutions funny. This article will provide readers with an abundance of information regarding the theoretical foundations of humor within the field of psychology, as well as empirical studies linking humor to various favorable outcomes. It would do well to do a little more unpacking of terms like incongruity, absurdity, unexpected, and bizarre. The Incongruity Theory (IT, hereafter) is the dominant theory used in modern research to explain humorous things. According to Schopenhauer, incongruity theory allows all of the 'ludicrous' to be divided into two categories. For example, in a study exploring humor among undergraduate students, a sense of humor was positively related to both sociability and creativity (Ghayas & Malik, 2013). More specific workplace benefits of humor included lower stress, burnout, and subordinate work withdrawal, and increased coping effectiveness, health, team cohesion, and job performance and satisfaction. The listener, in line four, not really knowing if the term spoken earlier is who or hoo, but likely assumes the former, then follows along with the standard knock-knock joke format. Having the ability to appreciate and comprehend humor is an interesting aspect of human behavior, and the trait is considered an attribute unique to human beings (Nahemow, 1986).Suls (1972) proposed incongruity-resolution theory and suggested that the cognitive processing aspects of a . Semantic Mechanisms of Humor. Schulman-Green, D. (2003). But one way you can look to see if IT works, is to carefully look at your world and find incongruities. Analysis of any joke or bit of humor generally, if not nearly always, makes the jokes not funny. Chapter 2 - Incongruity Theory . This does not mean that IT is not without its problems. In general, all other things being equal, if theres no reason to worry about the incongruity, then laugh. For example, one study examined the impact of humorous films on various psychological symptoms among schizophrenia inpatients. Philosophy, the journal of The Royal Institute of Philosophy is published by Cambridge University Press quarterly in January, April, July and October. Returning to the above joke, the answer of purple fish is not relevant at all to the question. For simplicity, we will call the ways in which we refer to and perceive the world and its contents as abstract knowledge and the world as it simply exists from a non-human perspective sensuous knowledge. Incongruity Theories' mechanism of causing laughter then goes to work on you. Incongruity can mean "lack of harmony" or "dissonance." That doesn't sound really funny. 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. None, they were dead before electricity was invented. To do this, we will discuss the ideas of the leading thinker behind this theorya man called Arthur Schopenhaeur (he explains his theory in his work The World as Will and Idea, but you don't have to read that text to understand this article). Relief theory. Laughter is also a pleasant sensation and so when we experience the pleasure of incongruity, we- as Schopenhauer puts it- "give ourselves up gladly to the spasmodic convulsions which this apprehension [understanding] excites. We feel good, laughter feels good and so we laugh. Importantly, gallows humor used in this way is not aggressive or hurtful to others. Your perception of the item is incomplete. Cambridge Journals publishes over 250 peer-reviewed academic journals across a wide range of subject areas, in print and online. 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. This book assesses the adequacy of the traditional theories of laughter and humor, suggests revised theories, and explores such areas as the aesthetics and ethics of humor, and the relation of amusement to other mental states. Its not like a piece of music. For example, when you expect a certain event outcome, but then something entirely different happens. Martin, R. (1989). When we are shown it is inadequate, we feel we can relax our reliance on it. For example, among physicians who work with dying patients, humor has been reported as one of eight coping mechanisms used to handle the extreme stress involved in doing this type of work (Schulman-Green, 2003). Good comedy works to create expectations and them frustrate or play with them in such ways as to get the audience to find something funny or humorous. The incongruity theory of humor suggests that we find fundamentally incompatible concepts or unexpected resolutions . Inside of a dog its too dark to read. Personally, I find it delightful and love the example and find it more and more humorous each time I experience it. White is clear on this, in a humorous, IT 46 supporting way. But whatever incongruity you focus on, the joke works on frustrating or playing around with expectations. You're now up to speed with incongruity theory. We also acknowledge previous National Science Foundation support under grant numbers 1246120, 1525057, and 1413739. d) Resolution shows how (within the story world) the incongruity arises. Why does this support the IT? In K. S. Cameron & G. M. Spreitzer (Eds.). Since we know humor represents an essential strength with all sorts of excellent benefits, it is in our best interest to maximize it as much as possible. Because this obvious fact about humor shows how much, cognitively speaking, is required of us when we experience and enjoy humor. For example, among college students enrolled in language courses, 72% noted that humor enhanced their interest in the subject matter, 82% reported that the instructors use of humor made them more approachable, and 82% indicated that humor created an environment more conducive to learning (Askildson, 2005). Three traditional theories of laughter and humor are examined, along with the theory that humor evolved from mock-aggressive play in apes. Similarly, Vaughan, Zeigler-Hill, and Arnau (2014) addressed stable and unstable self-esteem among college students and found that participants with stable high self-esteem were lower in less adaptive forms of humor (i.e., self-defeating humor). Humor. For example, "hot poet" is funnier than "happy child" and "money and sex" is funnier than "love and sex" [7,8]. Engaging in a humor exercise is associated with a positive mood (Edwards, 2013) and positive cognitive appraisals (Maiolino & Kuiper, 2016). Infants tend to laugh when parents make funny faces and sounds, hide their faces before they. It fits with current scientific approaches, it conforms and relates to our everyday experience of humor, and its also explanatory. (2005) in their aptly titled article If We Didnt Use Humor, Wed Cry. You know its coming. Once they begin college, humor is predictive of better college adjustment (Hickman & Crossland, 2004). Peterson and Seligman (2004) propose six virtues and 24 character strengths that fall within each virtue category (a few examples below): Proposed links between humor and positive wellbeing are intuitive; it makes sense that those with a good sense of humor will be in a better position to weather difficult situations, enjoy more cohesive relationships, find humor in all sorts of experiences, and benefit from more positive mental and physical health (Martin, 2019). And no doubt comedians are having to think differently about their routines in light of the current climate. I am based in the UK and just at a time when we need more laughter it seems we are being gagged and guilt tripped into a kind of self-censorship at every turn which is not funny. I encourage you to try it, if only to raise the amount of humor in your life. The researchers found reductions in anger, anxiety, psychopathology, and depression among participants (Gelkopf, Gonen, Kurs, Melamed, & Bleich, 2006). Hence weve found a counter-example to the theory. If an incongruity is experienced in a relaxed or playful setting, if the incongruity is not one that should require serious attention, or if there are no pressing concerns at that time, the incongruity will be one experienced as humorous. Humor as character strength and its relation to life satisfaction and happiness in Autism Spectrum Disorders. Babies can go from laughing to crying in no time when being tickled [9]. Humor in the home and in the classroom: The benefits of laughing while we learn. From a linguistic and communicative perspective, humor involves a mix of verbal and non-verbal forms; a joke, a mirth, or a pun may not sound Self-esteem instability and humor styles: Does the stability of self-esteem influence how people use humor? 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'. Think about whats required for you to get a joke. More about the theory: Expectancy Violations If part of incongruity is the unexpected, how can I find humor in some joke or bit that Ive experienced before? The substantive literature is again lacking; however, some studies do show that humor serves as an important coping mechanism for psychiatric patients. The role of coping humor in the physical and mental health of older adults. Wilkins, J., & Eisenbraun, A. J. The whole joke is layered with absurdities. The Friday bit about black owned-might not work as effectively in say mainland China, or Tasmania. The listener has to figure out how one side can be exactly like the other, and especially so at that. In this way, humor results from feelings of triumph over the errors or misfortune of others, which promotes self-enhancement and feelings of superiority. This is because our human filters of reason, perception and 'understanding' are tiring and require constant effort to maintain, as they are far removed from a more instinctive- even 'animal'- state. 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