The psychology of humor : a reference guide and annotated bibliography PDF
Preview The psychology of humor : a reference guide and annotated bibliography
The Psychology of Humor The Psychology of Humor A Reference Guide and Annotated Bibliography Jon E. Roeckelein GREENWOOD PRESS Westport, Connecticut • London Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Roeckelein, Jon E. Thepsychologyofhumor : areferenceguideandannotatedbibliography / JonE.Roeckelein. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and indexes. ISBN 0–313–31577–9 (alk. paper) 1. Wit and humor—Psychological aspects. 2. Wit and humor—Psychological aspects—Bibliography. I. Title. PN6144.P5R64 2002 152.4′3—dc21 2001040554 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available. Copyright © 2002 by Jon E. Roeckelein All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2001040554 ISBN: 0–313–31577–9 First published in 2002 Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881 An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. www.greenwood.com Printed in the United States of America The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48–1984). 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Copyright Acknowledgment Theauthorandpublishergratefullyacknowledgepermissiontoquoteseveralworddefinitions fromWebster’sThirdNewInternational®Dictionary,Unabridged©1993byMerriam-Webster, Incorporated. In memory of Don C. Ettore. Tomyinlaws—MargieHarrisandDonandPamEttore—whohaveal- waysshownmegreathospitality,honor,andadeeperaspectofhumor: that of joy. Tothe“goodolddays”ofthelate1960s,andtomycolleaguesandthe crewatHumanResourcesResearchOffice(HumRRO),Division4(Fort Benning, Georgia), especially “Jake” Jacobs, Joe Olmstead, and Doug Holmeswhoeachgenerouslyprovidedmewithhumor,personalfriend- ship,andintellectualstimulation;andtothelateJamesScoresby—afel- lowteacherwhoknewthetruemeaningandvalueofhumorandlaughter. Contents Preface ix Introduction 1 1. Terminological Aspects and Domains of Humor 9 Definitions of the Concept of Humor 9 Humor versus Wit 24 Humor and Laughter 33 Humor and Comedy 52 Humor as Satire/Irony/Sarcasm/Farce/Parody 58 Humor as Riddles/Puns/Jokes 63 Humor in Caricature/Cartoons/Comic Strips/Slapstick 69 2. Origins and Evolution of Humor 87 Ancient/Primitive Humor 87 Humor and the Early Philosophical Theories 94 Biblical and Jewish Humor 99 3. Modern Theoretical Aspects of Humor 119 Nonpsychological Theories of Humor 119 Psychological Theories of Humor 142 Summary: A Concise Dictionary of Humor Theories 191 4. Differential and Functional Aspects of Humor 227 Differences in Humor Appreciation 227 Functions of Humor 267 viii CONTENTS 5. Methodological and Futuristic Aspects of Humor 367 Scientific Methodology and Humor Research 367 Measurement of Humor 397 Future Faces of Humor 419 6. Annotated Bibliography of Humor Studies in Psychology (1970–2001) 443 Aggression and Humor 444 Application of Humor 449 Bibliographies and Literature Reviews of Humor 463 Cognition and Humor 468 Humor as Comedy/Jokes/Puns/Riddles/Satire/Irony 477 Humor as Laughter and Wit 481 Individual and Group Differences in Humor 484 Methodology and Measurement of Humor 505 Nature of the Humorous Stimulus 508 Social Aspects of Humor 518 Name Index 531 Subject Index 567 Preface Recently,inJanuary2001,Iconductedacomputersearchofthekeywordhu- morusingtheMELVYLCatalog(CaliforniaDigitalLibrary,CDL)database, andfoundatotalofover14,015studiesthatcutacrossmanydifferentacademic disciplinesrangingfromanthropologytothehealthsciencestozoology/ethol- ogy.[Note:ThedatabaseWorldCatshowsover75,670publisheditemsworld- wide—cutting across many languages and disciplines—for the keyword humor!]Also,ataboutthesametime,whenIsearchedhumoronthemoredis- cipline-specific database PsycINFO, I discovered that there are over 3,140 studiesonhumorinthepsychologicalliteraturethathavebeenpublishedbe- tween 1887 and 2001. Thelargenumberofhumorstudiespublishedinthefieldofpsychology—as comparedproportionatelytootherdisciplineareas—indicatesthatthetopicof humorisrepresentedstronglyinpsychology(aswellasinafewotherdisci- plineareas,suchasthefieldsofliteratureandhistory,whichincludenotonly thewealthofthewritingsoftheworld’shumoriststhemselves,butalsoofthe numerouscritiques,commentaries,theses,anddissertationswrittenabouthu- morists and their works). According to the figures here, when contrasting MELVYLwithPsycINFO,psychologycapturesalmostone-fourthofthetotal number of studies published on humor across all disciplines. The finding that the field of psychology contains such a large number of studiesonhumorrequiresthatareview,reference,andresourcebook—suchas thepresentwork—setupcriteriaandboundariesconcerningselectionofthe typeofmaterialtobecovered.Accordingly,thefollowingparametersserveas the basis for selection of material in this book: x PREFACE 1. Thetopicofhumorascomparedandcontrastedwithanumberofhumor-related termssuchaswit,laughter,comedy,satire/irony,puns,jokes,andcartoons,among others. 2. Thetopicofhumorinahistoricalcontext,includingtheoriginsandevolutionofhu- mor. 3. The topic of humor from theoretical, functional, and differential perspectives. 4. The topic of humor as used in experimental/empirical studies involving various methodologies and measurements of humor. 5. The topic of humor as projected into future research settings and contexts. 6. Thetopicofhumorinthemodernpsychologicalliteraturefrom1970through2001, including, among others, the rubrics of humor, wit, laughter, comedy, sat- ire/irony/sarcasm/farce/parody,riddles/puns/jokes,andcaricature/cartoons/comic strips/slapstickthatcompriseacurrentannotatedbibliographyofhumorstudiesin psychology. The goal of this book is to provide a one-volume resource and reference bookforthepsychologyofhumorthatcoverstheterminologicaldomainsof humor, the origins and evolution of humor, the present and projected future methodologicalandtheoreticalconcernsofpsychologistsregardingthestudy ofhumor,andascientific,experimental,andempiricalaccountofthetopicof humor as reflected in the recent psychological literature. Inmorespecificterms,theplanandoutlineofthisbookistocoverthefol- lowingmaterial:thevariousterminologicalaspectsanddomainsofhumoras distinguishedfromhumor-relatedtermssuchaswit,laughter,comedy,satire, irony,sarcasm,farce,parody,riddles,puns,jokes,caricature,cartoons,comic strips,andslapstick(Chapter1);humorasconceivedbyancient/primitivehu- mans,earlyphilosophers,andJewishandbiblicalwriters(Chapter2);thevari- ous modern theoretical aspects of humor, including prominent nonpsychologicalandpsychologicaltheoriesofhumor(Chapter3);thediffer- entialandfunctionalaspectsofhumor,includingpersonality,gender,individ- ual, cross-generational, cross-cultural, and ethnic differences, and the functions of humor including humor as a coping mechanism, as a psychotherapeuticaid,asanadjunctintheclassroomandtheworkplace,and thesocialinfluencesofhumor(Chapter4);themethodological,measurement, andfuturisticaspectsofhumor(Chapter5);andhumorasindicatedinacurrent (1970–2001)annotatedbibliographyofhumorstudiesinpsychology(Chapter 6).Also,thisbookcontainsaNameIndexandSubjectIndextohelpintherapid location of particular persons and specific subjects and topics of interest.
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