Chapter 7 - Personality approaches to the sense of humor

Abstract

This chapter reviews the research on sense of humor. Research with a variety of different sense of humor measures is beginning to clarify the nature and correlates of these humor-related traits, showing how they interact with other dimensions of personality and behavior. With regard to the humor appreciation approach, Ruch's work with the 3WD has contributed a great deal to the understanding of individual differences in the enjoyment of humor in the form of jokes and cartoons. This research demonstrates that individual differences in humor appreciation have more to do with structural aspects than with the content or topic of the jokes, contrary to the assumptions of many past researchers. One view that seems to be emerging in the research is that different personality traits are reflected in different humor dimensions. In other words, people express their particular personality traits through their humor. Thus, it may be that extroverts express humor in different ways and enjoy different types of humor than do introverts. Similarly, more agreeable people tend to have a friendly style of humor, while hostile individuals tend to use humor in more aggressive ways. Other styles of humor may be differentially associated with neuroticism versus emotional stability, as well as openness and conscientiousness.