Cann, A., & Collette, C. (2014). Instead, laughter occurs in response to unexpected punchlines or those that go against usual patterns (Wilkins & Eisenbraun, 2009). Therefore, it is suggested that the absence of detrimental humor is equally important to the presence of prosocial humor styles (Martin, 2019). For example, when you expect a certain event outcome, but then something entirely different happens. This page titled 2.4: Got IT?- Introducing Incongruity Theory is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Michael K. Cundall, Jr. (Lighthearted Philosophers' Society) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request. The incongruity, the playing with expectations as such, is that the second line of the joke is the listener and this query made assumes the next answer will be a name not a sound. Think about whats required for you to get a joke. But as a tool for explicating humor theories, jokes are compact, easily digestible, and thus make for useful examples. If youre not an English speaker knock-knock jokes will go over your head. Dowling, J. Engaging in a humor exercise is associated with a positive mood (Edwards, 2013) and positive cognitive appraisals (Maiolino & Kuiper, 2016). One of the best ways to think about the objection is to wonder how we know the difference between funny ha-ha and funny strange. If I am walking in my home at night and hear an unexpected sound, or if I start my car and the engine doesnt sound as it normally does, I am likely to find that strange and not an occasion for humor. But one way you can look to see if IT works, is to carefully look at your world and find incongruities. This concept is exemplified by the ability of healthcare workers to employ dark humor as a way of coping with chronic job stress (e.g., Schulman-Green, 2003; Talbot & Lumden, 2000; Wanzer et al., 2005). However, it is safe to say that IT is accepted by most researchers as the most accurate and likely true approach to explaining humor. Along the same lines . If the joke were truly nonsensical, the response wouldnt be humor, it would be confusion. Philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle have been trying to explain humor since ancient times. Abstract knowledge refers to the way we understand things through our human filtersour words for things in the world and the categories we assign them into. We struggle to understand why. Research supports this connection. I hate everyone equally. The incongruity theory purports to define the for-mal object of comic amusement, which it locates in certain kinds of incongruity. One of simplest forms of humor in young children can be found when they actively do something contrary to expectation or norm. There are samples, in the provided dataset, that uses the incongruity to create humor . Ulloth, J. As the world is transcending toward the unchartered watersmarked by more pandemics, more economic hardships, and more automation at workDr Lonczak has written a very useful piece of article to spread positivity across domains in places of work and life. They also have to know the meanings of other words so as to substitute the right sort of words. Defense mechanisms are believed to protect the ego from emotional pain through the unconscious minds distortion of reality. Humor typically requires more of a shared cultural and cognitive background than other forms of entertainment. This book assesses the adequacy of the traditional theories of laughter and humor, suggests revised theories, and explores such areas as the aesthetics and ethics of humor, and the relation of amusement to other mental states. Many of these journals are the leading academic publications in their fields and together they form one of the most valuable and comprehensive bodies of research available today. The predictive nature of humor, authoritative parenting style, and academic achievement on indices of initial adjustment and commitment to college among college freshmen. By Steve Buissinne, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. In comedy, this often means that any kind of logic or familiarity is going to be replaced with something entirely different. Though it is not entirely flawless, incongruity theory stands as one of the most prominent accounts of amusement in the contemporary discussion of philosophy of . (I know, the Whites frog has now totally expired) If you count them up, there are a number of incongruities in play here. Sign on a repair shop door: We Can Repair Anything. A friend is performing at an open mic night. Humor theories and the physiological benefits of laughter. they are based on some objective characteristics of a humorous text or other act (situation, event, picture, etc.). Joshua, A., Cotroneo, A., & Clarke, S. (2005). You reply with "Why, am I marrying her?" In K. S. Cameron & G. M. Spreitzer (Eds.). This example also helps us to see the unexpected nature of the incongruous. In other words, laughter is a function of anticipating a different outcome than what was expected. Not only does humor have the ability to make school more enjoyable, but it is beneficial in various meaningful ways. But basically, the kernel of the idea is that you experience something that does not fit easily within the particular context. The main issue with IT is that not all incongruities we experience lead to humor. However, most evidence proposing a link between humor and improved health is anecdotal. There is a scientific fact that you need to learn but neither of you know it. The intentional use of classroom humor also has been linked to enhanced learning among nursing students (Ulloth, 2002). Low, L., Goodenough, B., Fletcher, J., Xu, K., Casey, A., Chenoweth, L., Brodaty, H. (2014). If you dont find yourself laughing nearly enough, here are six things you can do: Two cannibals are eating a clown. #2: The Incongruity and Incongruity-Resolution Theories One of the oldest andmost developed theories of humor adopted by Kant, refined by Schopenhauer is, roughly,that humor happens. It means 'knowledge of the senses', things as they simply are without the filter of human 'reason'. Mary is deeply offended by office jokes following the parade incident. Thank you very much, for your good work! For more on the Relief theory, see Morreall 1983, 20-37; Roberts 2019, 91-93, and Freud 1960. Humor, stress, and coping strategies. Cooper, C., & Sosik, J. This was a great help . Making fun of someone else because of their misfortunes. Relief theory. It recognizes that you cant find a difference between a thing and itself. To you, the brush would seem comically small for the task at handeveryone knows it's a toothbrush, not a toilet brush. But before we move on to critiques, lets explore some other facts about humor that support the notion that humor is a cognitive act that requires some form of perceived incongruity. If youve spent any time around children when they find something funny, they will quickly wear it out. The incongruity theory purports to define the formal object of comic amusement, which it locates in certain kinds of incongruity. They offer to 'cool you down' and you agree. The light bulb joke about the surrealists works because the audience knows a little something about what a surrealist is and then uses that knowledge to make sense of the absurd response. 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. I was raised as an only child. ("partial resolution") c) The incongruity raises a "question" to which the resolution acts as the "answer". 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 This is a rather cruel witticism but a witticism all the same. Cooper, C. (2008). I hope thats not the case below, but youll likely find the jokes less funny for the analysis. 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. Coping humor also has been associated with increased social support and self-efficacy among older community-dwelling adults (Marziali, McDonald, & Donahue, 2008). This juxtaposition of the Asian man coming from under the counter, which supports the idea that hes the owner, with the sign that proclaims the establishment is black owned is perfect example of ideas or objects that are incongruous with one another. al. Sensuous knowledge refers to the world as it exists from no perspective at all. As an important high-level cognitive activity, humor plays a crucial role in human social life. One way that Gantos makes his writing amusing is through the use of schadenfreude. The humor students bring to the classroom is also essential. Its not without its issues or critics. 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. Ostrower (2015, p. 184) describes humor coping within this context as a defense mechanism that under the nightmare circumstances of living in the ghettos and camps during the Holocaust, laughter was a form of rebellion against reality. congruity theory is satisfactory, but I believe it is more satisfactory than previous versions and deserves to be considered in this stronger form. Incongruity theory, which focuses on the cognitive mechanisms of perception and interpretation, posits that it is the perceptions of incongruity that explain humor (Martin & Ford, 2018). On the association between humor and burnout. (2014). The use of humor in serious mental illness: A review. Babies can go from laughing to crying in no time when being tickled [9]. Humor has been reported as among the top eight of 24 character strengths and is associated with increased life satisfaction, life engagement, and life pleasure (Samson & Antonelli, 2013). Dont forget to download our three Grief Exercises [PDF] for free. They are reviewed along with neurolinguistic approaches, evolutionary theories of humor and a few mixed and partial theories that have been presented. If you can make sense of this joke, youre way better than I clever reader. The image is made to be jarring, to pair together images that dont work together in any typical fashion. Szabo, A., Ainsworth, S. E., & Danks, P. K. (2005). Comparison, as noted, requires two things. (2012). That is why, although the Incongruity Theory freed humor from the traditional stigma of being anti-social, it has not . Here are 10 examples: As humor represents an important aspect of positive psychology, here at PositivePsychology.com, we have described several ways in which humor contributes to positive wellbeing. (2014). Indeed, by nurturing their sense of humor, adults equip children with important coping skills (Martin, 1989). Explaining the absurd is a bitabsurd. But if you know nothing of the Etruscans you couldnt possibly make sense of it. Thats a really interesting topic youre exploring. competitors of incongruity theory are currently seen as even less able to provide an adequate an-swer to the basic question" (Levinson 1998, 564). But if you recall the definition of IT, it simply states that incongruities will be found funny. (2011, 44) point out the . 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. Gelkopf, M., Gonen, B., Kurs, R., Melamed, Y., & Bleich, A. A fair warning is needed, as jokes are but a small slice of the humor pie. This idea is explained by Wanzer et al. Hi Heather, thank you for the insight and information. Trust me, it'll make it simpler in the long run! ("full resolution") b) Resolution makes the original incongruity less incongruous. Even though the audience grows tired easily. Incongruity can even play a role in physical humor. It would do well to do a little more unpacking of terms like incongruity, absurdity, unexpected, and bizarre. The incongruity theory of humor suggests that we find fundamentally incompatible concepts or unexpected resolutions funny. To do this, we will discuss the ideas of the leading thinker behind this theorya man called Arthur Schopenhaeur (he explains his theory in his work The World as Will and Idea, but you don't have to read that text to understand this article). The Incongruity Theory (IT, hereafter) is the dominant theory used in modern research to explain humorous things. This theory is intuitive, as a joke with an expected or obvious punchline is simply not funny. The effect of humor on elder mental and physical health. One of the more serious objections is that incongruity has nothing to do with anything in humor. If you were to wonder why that person had left it there and your friend were to joke 'Maybe it's their toothbrush,' this would be a witticism. Clearly, they understand about expectation and then are using the unexpected presence of the new word to create humor. I am based in the UK and just at a time when we need more laughter it seems we are being gagged and guilt tripped into a kind of self-censorship at every turn which is not funny. The most serviceable example of incongruity is the pun, in which a word has multiple meanings, and the meaning of the sentence in which it is included changes dramatically if one or the other meaning is applied. Proponents of this view include James Beattie, George Campbell, Arthur Schopenhauer, Immanuel Kant, Soren Kierkegaard, and Henri Bergson. Two pieces of sensuous knowledgeto have a fan used on you and to have a drink poured over you- are brought under the single piece of abstract knowledge, 'to be cooled down'. Mathieu, S. (2008). The humor in both of these examples relies on incongruous interpretations . Mark Twain quite rightly explained humor saying, "Humour is the great thing, the saving thing after all. Your perception only relates to part of the objectone of its possible uses. Schopenhaeur believes we relate to everything in the world through our perceptions. One is called 'wit' and the other 'folly'. Relations of humor with perceptions of stress. In linguistics, the affiliative aspect of humor has dominated the . In order for any two people to share a joke, its important that they share a certain conceptual or knowledge base. Personally, I find it delightful and love the example and find it more and more humorous each time I experience it. Returning to the above joke, the answer of purple fish is not relevant at all to the question. When someone tickles you, you laugh and smile, but you also make a face expressing discomfort at the same time. Bach can please someone with no knowledge of classical music or instruments. One says to the other: Does this taste funny to you?. 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. 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