Published by De Gruyter Mouton

Volume 35 Issue 1

Issue of HUMOR

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Contents
Journal Overview

Publicly Available February 8, 2022

From the Editor

Publicly Available November 19, 2021

From the Editor

Christian F. Hempelmann

Page range: 1-4

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Full Length Articles

November 22, 2021

“Some people work a bit more than me, and so we tease them”: the production of an elite student community in an elite French higher education institution

Christophe Birolini

Page range: 5-30

Abstract

This article presents the results of an ethnographic study of student humor in a French elite higher education institution, specifically how students in the student community use the term polard . The data was collected between 2014 and 2018 in one of France’s most prestigious elite higher education institution. There are two main ways this term is used as humor, indirectly mocking students, notably those outside the student community, a practice that constructs the polard as a foil figure of a student who spends all their time doing schoolwork and refrains from participating in extracurricular activities, and teasing friends and acquaintances in interactions following a devalued behavior, seeming over-concerned with studies. Furthermore, there exist interactional scripts students can use to successfully navigate these teasing interactions without losing face. Finally, this humor is discussed in relation to the elite setting, as it is linked to the social closure of these elite higher education institutions, and it contributes to the production of an elite student community, by socializing students to privileged self-presentations characterized by ease and by creating distinctions between students, separating the truly elite students from the others.

Open Access February 8, 2022

“If it stops, then I’ll start worrying.” Humor as part of the fire service culture, specifically as part of coping with critical incidents

Karin Dangermond, Ricardo Weewer, Joachim Duyndam, Anja Machielse

Page range: 31-50

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Abstract

Firefighters are reluctant to talk about firefighters’ humor with outsiders. This closed attitude has led to a lack of understanding of this important coping strategy in the outside world. It is not clear how firefighters experience humor and its role as part of the fire service culture and why they consider humor to be important when coping with critical incidents. Data has been collected by means of 20 participant observations and 72 interviews with Dutch firefighters from 37 different fire stations. Joking culture and joviality are important elements of the Dutch fire service culture. Firefighter humor usually creates unity, but can also lead to exclusion. Whether a joke is perceived as funny depends on who makes the joke, the moment, the content, and the frequency of the joke. Black humor is used as a means to start a conversation and, indirectly, to make it possible to discuss emotions and it tends to positively influence group dynamics. However, black humor is absent in the case of certain critical incidents because of personal boundaries and unwritten rules. The absence of humor is a sign for the crew commander to pay extra attention to coping.

December 8, 2021

Effects of regular and joke dog whistles on perceptions of political candidates

Svyatoslav “Slava” Prokhorets, Donald A. Saucier

Page range: 51-72

Abstract

Our experiment showed a scenario where a White politician used a racist dog whistle (DW) when referring to his Black opponent. We used pilot data to determine DW statements and then tested whether different DWs (joke or regular) would affect perceptions of candidates based on participants’ levels of subtle and explicit racism compared to a comment without racial undertones. Our results indicated that while neither DW affected perceptions of the Black candidate based on participants’ levels of subtle racism, when a regular DW was used, subtle racism was positively associated with more positive perceptions of the White candidate. Our findings can broadly be explained within the context of modern racism and the suppression justification model of prejudice. The presence of a DW served as a prime, allowing those who have subtle anti-Black prejudice to express it through more positive personal perceptions of the White candidate. Without opportunities to justify the expression of their subtle prejudice (i.e. have a non-prejudice reason to dislike the candidate), the participants’ did not report more negative perceptions of the Black candidate. However, there was a “backlash” and participants were less likely to consider voting for the White candidate, particularly when he used a joke DW.

November 22, 2021

Using humor to disguise racism in television news: the case of the Roma

Petre Breazu, David Machin

Page range: 73-92

Abstract

It has been argued that more research is needed on the role of humor in the expression of racism. One reason is that, in the ‘post racial’ society, overt racism has become publicly unacceptable and, therefore, tends to appear in more concealed forms. In this paper, as part of a larger project on media representations of the Roma, we look at the role of humor in a Romanian television news clip reporting on the financial rewards of begging. We draw on the critical scholarship in humor research and carry out a multimodal critical discourse analysis of a news report selected from a larger corpus. We argue that through humor a recontextualisation of the Roma’s situation takes place, transforming their actual situation of poverty and social marginalisation into a humorous account of cultural failure, incompetence, stupidity and calculated money grabbing. We show that humor is one way by which culture becomes represented as embodied by ethnic minorities.

November 26, 2021

Reliability and validity of the sense of humor scale

Daniel Lydon, Wilson McDermut

Page range: 93-111

Abstract

This study examined the reliability, validity, and factor structure of the sense of humor scale (SHS; McGhee, Paul E. 1999. Health, healing and the amuse system: Humor as survival training , 3rd edn. Dubuque: Kendall/Hunt), a 24-item questionnaire developed to measure overall sense of humor. Participants included 99 adults, 105 undergraduates, and 111 comedians. One-week test-retest reliability was good ( r = 0.75). Internal consistency of the overall scale was excellent, and acceptable-to-excellent for the six subscales. Item-total correlations were generally strong. Comedians scored higher than undergraduates and adults, supporting the construct validity of the SHS. Convergent validity was strong as the SHS was positively correlated with the Humor Styles Questionnaire total and its subscales. Our analyses of SHS’s associations with the Big Five personality dimensions led to findings that are consistent with prior research, as the SHS was positively correlated with extraversion and openness to experience, but uncorrelated with neuroticism, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Factor analyses found a bifactor model to be the best fitting model for the SHS. Ancillary bifactor fit indices provided additional support for the notion that the SHS may not be best described as unidimensional. Thus, it can be argued that the subscales are relevant for both research and applied work as they offer unique contributions.

November 29, 2021

How cognitive, social, and emotional profiles impact humor appreciation: sense of humor in autism spectrum disorder and Williams syndrome

Noémie Treichel, Daniel Dukes, Koviljka Barisnikov, Andrea C. Samson

Page range: 113-133

Abstract

Humor is a complex and multi-faceted phenomenon composed of a variety of cognitive, social, and emotional processes. This paper will discuss humor appreciation in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and individuals with Williams syndrome (WS), a rare genetic disorder mainly characterized by intellectual disabilities, high social approach tendencies and high positive emotions. Drawing on research on the comprehension and appreciation of humor in individuals with ASD, this paper aims to better understand how the particular cognitive, social, and emotional profile of individuals with WS might affect their appreciation of humor and how such research could ultimately lead to a greater understanding of the nature of humor.

About this journal

Objective
HUMOR was established as an international interdisciplinary forum for the publication of high-quality research papers on humor as an important and universal human faculty. Humor research draws upon a wide range of academic disciplines including anthropology, biology, cultural studies, computer science, education, communication, film and media studies, gender studies, history, linguistics, literature, mathematics, health and medicine, philosophy, political science, psychology, and sociology. At the same time, humor research often sheds light on the basic concepts, ideas, and methods of many of these disciplines.

Topics

interdisciplinary humor research
humor theory
empirical studies in humor, laughter, comedy and related fields from around the world
humor research methodologies and measurements of sense of humor
scholarly debates on the social functions of humor

Article formats
Research articles, Book reviews, Debates

Volume 35 Issue 1

Issue of HUMOR

Frontmatter

From the Editor

“Some people work a bit more than me, and so we tease them”: the production of an elite student community in an elite French higher education institution

Abstract

“If it stops, then I’ll start worrying.” Humor as part of the fire service culture, specifically as part of coping with critical incidents

Abstract

Effects of regular and joke dog whistles on perceptions of political candidates

Abstract

Using humor to disguise racism in television news: the case of the Roma

Abstract

Reliability and validity of the sense of humor scale

Abstract

How cognitive, social, and emotional profiles impact humor appreciation: sense of humor in autism spectrum disorder and Williams syndrome

Abstract