Published by De Gruyter Mouton

Volume 35 Issue 2

Issue of HUMOR

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Contents
Journal Overview

Publicly Available May 13, 2022

Frontmatter

Page range: i-v

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Review Essay

Publicly Available April 26, 2022

A systematic review of the effects of laughter on blood pressure and heart rate variability

Raquel Oliveira, Patrícia Arriaga

Page range: 135-167

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Abstract

In this systematic review, we sought to understand the effects of laughter-inducing interventions on blood pressure and heart rate variability. For this purpose, we identified 32 relevant records through database searching. The results suggest that laughter is associated with a decrease in blood pressure in pre–post measurements. However, this association varies according to the type of intervention delivered and the characteristics of participants. In controlled between-groups comparisons, the effect of laughter-inducing interventions on blood pressure was found to be non-significant, which can be due to the small number of studies available and its high level of heterogeneity. In studies involving heart rate variability, the most consistent findings point to an association between laughter and decreases in both frequency (LF/HF) and time-domain (SDNN) indicators. Longitudinal studies suggest that laughter frequency is associated with improved cardiovascular health. Several studies presented sub-optimal levels of quality, and more research is necessary to examine the impact of individual and intervention-related factors in the effectiveness of laughter-inducing interventions in cardiovascular health.

Full Length Articles

Open Access April 20, 2022

Humor in Supreme Court oral arguments

R. Urbatsch

Page range: 169-187

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Abstract

Humor in political communication can risk trivializing important issues or otherwise backfire. Still, comedy’s potential rhetorical power ensures its frequent use as a communication and persuasion strategy. This is true even in the Supreme Court of the United States, where oral-argument humor offers a window on thinking and communication strategies as justices deliberate and weigh contending arguments. Judicial humor at the Court may be likelier when participants are cognitively fresh, or when the case at issue focuses less on a specific person’s life or liberty. Reviewing outbursts of laughter in the Court’s oral arguments between the seating of Justice Kagan and the death of Justice Scalia confirms that cases argued later in the day and relating to individuals’ civil rights see less humor. Within cases, humor arises less frequently during the argument that prevails in the Court’s eventual judgment.

April 20, 2022

Relationship between autistic traits and emotion regulation using humor in the general population

Kai Nagase

Page range: 189-211

Abstract

This study examined which characteristics of autistic traits have a positive or negative relationship with emotional regulation using humor. Participants completed the Japanese version of the Social Responsiveness Scale 2 (SRS-2), Adult-Self and Humor Coping with Interpersonal Stress Scale (HCISS). The results showed that while the overall score of the SRS-2 was not significantly linked to emotion regulation using humor, the subscale of capacity for reciprocal social communication was negatively associated with the HCISS score. In contrast, the subscale of restricted interests and repetitive behavior was positively related to the HCISS score. This difference suggests that the two autistic traits influence emotion regulation using humor. These findings could help develop interventions to enhance adaptive emotion regulation strategies in individuals with high autistic traits.

May 3, 2022

How ethnic groups and clan systems influence humor styles: evidence from indigenous students in Taiwan

Meng-Hua Tsai, Hsueh-Chih Chen, Jen-Ho Chang, Yu-Lin Chang, Hsin-Ying Chien

Page range: 213-237

Abstract

The aim of this study is to compare the differences in humor styles between indigenous and Han Chinese populations in Taiwan. The differences in humor styles between clan systems (patriarchy or matriarchy) within indigenous people were further examined. A total of 442 indigenous students and 1,040 Han Chinese students ( M age = 12.88) in Taiwan were recruited. The Chinese version of the Humor Styles Questionnaire was applied. The following are the main findings. (1) Indigenous students use positive humor (affiliative and self-enhancing humor) more often than do Han students. (2) Indigenous girls in matriarchal societies use aggressive humor more often than do indigenous girls in patriarchal societies. (3) Indigenous boys use aggressive humor more often than do girls in patriarchal societies. However, such evidence was lacking in matriarchal societies. From the perspective of social constructions, the present findings reconfirm the effect of social status on humor.

April 20, 2022

The temperamental basis of humor and using humor under stress in depression: a moderated mediation model

Chloe Lau, Francesca Chiesi, Donald H. Saklofske

Page range: 239-251

Abstract

The temperamental basis of the sense of humor involves high cheerfulness, low seriousness, and low bad mood that would contribute to exhilaration and enjoyment of humor. In a sample of undergraduate participants ( N = 946), the present study investigated whether (1) use of humor under stress (HUS) mediates the association between cheerfulness and depression and (2) seriousness moderates the cheerfulness and HUS association. HUS had an indirect effect on the negative association between cheerfulness and depression. Moreover, seriousness moderated the cheerfulness and HUS correlation. For individuals with high cheerfulness, HUS scores were comparable across seriousness scores (Mean ± 1 SD). For those with low cheerfulness, individuals with low seriousness reported greater use of HUS. Hence, low seriousness may only predict greater use of humor during stressful situations in individuals with low cheerfulness. This study informs the theoretical conceptualization of temperamental traits in predicting humor-related variables and psychological distress.

Open Access April 20, 2022

The fat bride and the foolish messengers: humorizing the love theme in an early Islamic poem

Ali Ahmad Hussein

Page range: 253-274

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Abstract

The main premise of this study is that the long poem by early Islamic poet Ḥumayd b. Thawr al-Hilālī (d. ca. 68–70/688–690) has a dual function. One is expressive and poetic—striving for elegant and affective verses mainly related to love. The other is humoristic and attempts to amuse. The poem’s humor appears predominantly in the passages describing a corpulent bride, and the failure of two go-betweens to set up a meeting between lovers, with the narration of multiple love affairs further contributing to its comedy. The main objective of this study is to shed light on the use and techniques of humor in classical Arabic culture, a topic neglected in modern research.

April 20, 2022

Interpretive challenges with American presidential discourse described as joking

Catherine Evans Davies

Page range: 275-294

Abstract

When an American president speaks in a way that is later characterized as joking/kidding, a wide range of interpretations become possible. At a minimum, there are two basic interpretations: serious and non-serious. At the other extreme, there may be as many nuanced interpretations as there are audiences for the discourse. This study examines the “just/only joking” strategy outside of the face-to-face context and how it has been enacted in relation to presidential discourse. Using as data three prototypical examples for which public interpretations were available, the study explores how the two main audiences (currently polarized political groupings in the United States) tend to interpret the “joking” in relation to the performance style of former President Donald J. Trump either as a harmless joke or as a grave threat.

Book Reviews

Publicly Available April 20, 2022

Marx, Nick: Sketch Comedy: Identity, Reflexivity, and American Television

Daniel Burgess

Page range: 295-297

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Publicly Available April 20, 2022

Marsh, Huw: The Comic Turn in Contemporary English Fiction: Who’s Laughing Now?

Oliver Rendle

Page range: 299-302

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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