Theories of Humor

Sample

In this chapter, we provide the reader with a description of the most popular, contemporary, and accepted theoretical approaches to understanding what constitutes “humor.” First, we define and describe what constitutes a “theory.” Next, we briefly discuss the role and importance of theory in the explanation of communication phenomenon, with a specific focus on its applicability to humor. We then provide a few contemporary definitions of humor. In the following section, we introduce a conceptualization of the “individual differences” (trait) approach to humor and reveal some positive and negative consequences of using humor in relational communication. Humorous messages have been found to have significant effects in several communication contexts. As a consequence, we introduce some of the extant work in the Communication discipline that has explored the impact of humor in the contexts of education, health care, and work. Finally, we describe what are considered to be the four major theories of humor today: (a) Arousal/Relief/ Release Theories, (b) Psychoanalytic Theory, (c) Incongruity Theory, and, (d) Superiority and Disparagement Theories.