Personal values as facilitating and inhibiting factors in the appreciation of humor content

Abstract

Explored the relationship between appreciation of humor and personal values. In Exp I, 115 German university students rated funniness and degree of rejection of jokes and cartoons of 3 types: incongruity-resolution, nonsense, and sex. Ss also completed the German version of the Study of Values scale and the tendermindedness scale of the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF). In Exp II, 68 male university students completed the Rokeach Value Survey. Funniness as well as the rejection scores of incongruity-resolution jokes and of sex jokes, based on the incongruity-resolution structure, were correlated with the Study of Values categories. Results of Exp II replicated the findings of Exp I. Instrumental values (but not terminal values) were correlated with funniness and rejection of nonsense jokes. A model specifying the effects of value orientation on appreciation of humor content is presented.