Humor is ubiquitous and often beneficial, but its antecedents have been debated for millennia. We examine two factors that jointly influence perceptions of humor: the degree to which a stimulus is a violation (tragedy vs. mishap) and one’s perceived distance from the stimulus (far vs. close). Five studies then show that tragedies (which feature severe violations) are more humorous when temporally, socially, hypothetically, or spatially distant, but that mishaps (which feature mild violations) are more humorous when psychologically close. Although prevailing theories of humor have difficulty explaining the interaction revealed in the studies, the result is consistent with an account that proposes that humor occurs when a violation simultaneously seems benign. A benign violation account suggests that distance facilitates humor for tragedies by reducing threat, but closeness facilitates humor for mishaps by maintaining some sense of threat. We discuss implications for theories of humor and psychological distance.
Too Close for Comfort, or too Far to Care? Finding Humor in Distant Tragedies and Close Mishaps
WARREN, CALEB;
2012
Abstract
Humor is ubiquitous and often beneficial, but its antecedents have been debated for millennia. We examine two factors that jointly influence perceptions of humor: the degree to which a stimulus is a violation (tragedy vs. mishap) and one’s perceived distance from the stimulus (far vs. close). Five studies then show that tragedies (which feature severe violations) are more humorous when temporally, socially, hypothetically, or spatially distant, but that mishaps (which feature mild violations) are more humorous when psychologically close. Although prevailing theories of humor have difficulty explaining the interaction revealed in the studies, the result is consistent with an account that proposes that humor occurs when a violation simultaneously seems benign. A benign violation account suggests that distance facilitates humor for tragedies by reducing threat, but closeness facilitates humor for mishaps by maintaining some sense of threat. We discuss implications for theories of humor and psychological distance.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.