Marziali, E., McDonald, L., & Donahue, P. (2008). A good example of surrealist absurdity can be found in Salvador Dalis painting, The Persistence of Memory in which we see 47 clock faces melting like a rubber pancake. He would giggle with sheer delight. The first theory is the superiority theory. Incongruity is mostly a non-controversial, generally accepted idea, as claimed, for example, by Perlmutter ( 2002, p. 155) "the observation that some form of incongruity is an essential condition for humor, is universally accepted in every serious analysis of the subject." Incongruity is a mismatch between what we see or understand to be true and what we (consciously or unconsciously) expected. How many surrealists does it take to change a lightbulb? In K. S. Cameron & G. M. Spreitzer (Eds.). According to this theory, people are able to . A Subtreasury of American Humor. 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. New York: Kluwer, 1984. 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. Importantly, gallows humor used in this way is not aggressive or hurtful to others. The child will continue playing with that rhyme substituting words here and there both with others and by themselves. Examining the impact of a brief humor exercise on psychological wellbeing. 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. 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. But basically, the kernel of the idea is that you experience something that does not fit easily within the particular context. As an important high-level cognitive activity, humor plays a crucial role in human social life. Here the piece of abstract knowledge applicable to multiple pieces of sensuous knowledge is a word ('fire'), and so here we have an example of wordplay creating folly. Askildson, L. (2005). Well thats the big question and one that occupies and vexes many researchers (this author included). So there you have it! The response of none both increases and diminishes your perplexity. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Abel, M. H. (2002). Why does this support the IT? Cambridge University Press is committed by its charter to disseminate knowledge as widely as possible across the globe. By filling out your name and email address below. The researchers found reductions in anger, anxiety, psychopathology, and depression among participants (Gelkopf, Gonen, Kurs, Melamed, & Bleich, 2006). Cambridge University Press (www.cambridge.org) is the publishing division of the University of Cambridge, one of the worlds leading research institutions and winner of 81 Nobel Prizes. How is this word play an incongruity? Im writing an essay entitled Are Comedians an endangered species? d) Resolution shows how (within the story world) the incongruity arises. (2003). Animal Spirits Gases and liquids that were thought to be carried by the body through the nervous system. Superiority theory, relief/arousal theory, and incongruity theory, propose different reasons as to what makes a situation humorous. Indeed, by nurturing their sense of humor, adults equip children with important coping skills (Martin, 1989). 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. Understanding humor based on the incongruity theory and the cooperative principle. The cognitive-perceptual component. This little joke is pretty good at being absurd. 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! Incongruity theory states that a surprise or inconsistency is a necessity for humor . Raskin, Victor. Theres nothing more to get than the fact that its absurd. But the incongruity theory says that our perceptions of things in the real world only ever relate to part of that thing- they are incomplete. The same effect would occur if you saw someone cleaning a toilet with a toothbrush. One type of humor Jack uses is irony. (2013). Children also have to realize that they are substituting and are 48 essentially playing around with the structure of the rhyme. Apparently, we're all seething cauldrons of fluid and gas, trying to get out and making us wacky. 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. The belief that laughter heals the mind has been around for centuries. 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. Gelkopf, M., Gonen, B., Kurs, R., Melamed, Y., & Bleich, A. Along the same lines . In this way, humor results from feelings of triumph over the errors or misfortune of others, which promotes self-enhancement and feelings of superiority. 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. And no doubt comedians are having to think differently about their routines in light of the current climate. Vaughan, J., Zeigler-Hill, V., & Arnau, R. C. (2014). None, they were dead before electricity was invented. The Incongruity Theory (IT, hereafter) is the dominant theory used in modern research to explain humorous things. For example, in a study by Abel (2002), coping strategies were examined concerning humor and various types of stress. Positive humor was found to buffer the impact of work stress on mental health, as well as to promote more effective functioning on the job. White is clear on this, in a humorous, IT 46 supporting way. By contrast, the present study used a humor corpus with the novelty of three-element verbal jokes to perform direct . Mathieu, S. (2008). The whole joke is layered with absurdities. The difference between your own perception of the world and the world as it is from a neutral perspective has been pointed out to you. The effect of humorous movies on inpatients with chronic schizophrenia. Theories of laughter and humor originated in ancient times with the view that laughter is an expression of . The joke uses the idea of a surrealist (artists who tried to pair together ideas that were often extremely different) in order to get the listener to be prepared for absurdities. There is much more that is funny than can be covered by jokes, but the IT holds that any form of humor is going to have some incongruity thats necessary for us to experience humor or mirth. 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. Lets continue using this approach of relying on jokes to clarify the IT; its a timehonored tradition in humor research. The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers to this website may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. In general, all other things being equal, if theres no reason to worry about the incongruity, then laugh. If you laugh at the same parts of movies that youve seen before, then that incongruity cant be unexpected. This play then leads to a feeling of delight in the form of humor or mirth. they are based on some objective characteristics of a humorous text or other act (situation, event, picture, etc.). 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 . 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. We also acknowledge previous National Science Foundation support under grant numbers 1246120, 1525057, and 1413739. Humor as a defense mechanism during the Holocaust. Top humor theories are described, along with the role of humor as both a defense mechanism and character strength. The dominant theory of humor is the Incongruity Theory (Morreall, 2016). When is a coping technique seen as a way to manage, and when is it seen as a defense mechanism? 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. 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 . The benefits of humor in nursing education. There are numerous positive benefits of humor, such as enhanced positive mood, life satisfaction, self-esteem, job performance, creativity, social bonding, and. Analysis of any joke or bit of humor generally, if not nearly always, makes the jokes not funny. He offers examples of negative emotions such as "fear, pity, indignation, disgust, etc." and neutral ones like "puzzlement, wonder, curiosity, or problem-solving," 7 as attitudes that will not provide pleasure sufficient for humor. This item is part of a JSTOR Collection. They now look silly but you have had it pointed out to you that abstract knowledge is insufficient in this sense. I hope thats not the case below, but youll likely find the jokes less funny for the analysis. 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. Roberts (2019, 92) and Hurley et. Self-enhancing humor is an invaluable strength that supports human thriving. However, it is safe to say that IT is accepted by most researchers as the most accurate and likely true approach to explaining humor. 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). Understanding humor as play helps counter the traditional objections to it and reveals some of its benefits, including those it shares with philosophy itself. For example, the irony in Oedipus the King. Humor's Bad Reputation 2. The Incongruity Theory of Humor. is an example of 'humor went right. An example of this is "Yo mama" jokes where each contestant tries to put down the other contestant's mother. Its difficult to try to make sense of nonsense. If my son had substituted an adjective or conjunction it would have been odd. This is where we laugh with someone intentionally making a joke. 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. If I told you a joke where Etruscans were the main actors, you might not find it funny. Humor as character strength and its relation to life satisfaction and happiness in Autism Spectrum Disorders. Szabo, A., Ainsworth, S. E., & Danks, P. K. (2005). Explaining a joke is like dissecting a frog. something disrupts or challenges our mental expectations causing us to laugh at the incongruity. 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