Humor Use in Interpersonal Relationships
A special issue of Behavioral Sciences (ISSN 2076-328X). This special issue belongs to the section "Social Psychology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2024 | Viewed by 8801
Special Issue Editors
Interests: humor; memorable messages; interpersonal aspects of health and illness; supportive communication
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Humor contributes much to the quality of our interpersonal relationships. It has, accordingly, been studied in relation to such phenomena as attraction, persuasion, coping, and support. Nevertheless, humor research in the area of interpersonal communication has frequently lacked a strong theoretical underpinning. In terms of message production, expression, and reception, however, humorous messages ought to have properties in common with other message forms (e.g., self-disclosure, supportive communication). Therefore, humor should be amenable to examination from existent theories of interpersonal communication. For example, humor likely plays a role in such areas as managing identity gaps, the revelation of information about the self, relationship uncertainty, appraisals, and the manner in which relationships develop. The goal of this Special Issue is to bring together research on the use of various kinds of humorous messages and theories of interpersonal processes in order to shed light on both phenomena.
Prof. Dr. Nathan Miczo
Prof. Dr. John Meyer
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- humor
- interpersonal communication
- relational humor
- humor functions
- teasing
- embarrassment and humor
- empathetic humor
- alienation and humor
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Planned Papers
The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.
Title: Why be funny: The influence of social norms on the communicative functions of humor
Authors: Nathan Miczo; John C. Meyer
Affiliation: Department of Communication, Western Illinois University, Macomb, IL, USA
Abstract: Humor is a valued social activity and, as such, should be influenced by social norms.
This investigation examined the relationships between the functions of humor and the theory of normative social behavior. Descriptive norms are the foundation of TNSB. However, the theory argues that those norms are influenced by a set of moderators that can strengthen or attenuate proposed relationships. One hundred and sixty-three college students completed measures of TNSB variables (descriptive norms, injunctive norms, outcome expectation, group identification and reward) as well as Ramsey and Meyer’s functions of humor scale (identification, clarification, enforcement, and differentiation). Though descriptive norms significantly correlated with all four humor functions, in regression analyses no significant associations emerged. On the other hand, injunctive norms consistently predicted humor functions. In moderation analyses, the interaction between descriptive norms and reward was significant for all four functions of humor. Additionally, the descriptive norm x outcome expectations interaction was significant for clarification and differentiation. Finally, descriptive norms interacted with injunctive norms in relation to clarification. The discussion highlights the role that normative mechanisms play in shaping the ways people use humor in their everyday lives.
