A twin study on humor appreciation: The importance of separating structure and content.

TLDR: In this article, the authors focused on genetic and environmental influences on appreciation of structure and content of humor, and derived two indices from these scales, namely structure preference and liking of sexual content (i.e., controlled for humor structure).

Abstract: The present study focused on genetic and environmental influences on appreciation of structure and content of humor. Monozygotic (n = 135) and dizygotic (n = 60) adult twin pairs rated their trait-like humor appreciation using the 3 WD humor test (Ruch, 1992) which assesses three basic humor stimuli (incongruity-resolution humor; nonsense humor; sexual humor), and two basic components of responses to humor (funniness; aversiveness). Additionally, two indices were derived from these scales, namely structure preference and liking of sexual content (i.e., controlled for humor structure). Intraclass correlations and behavior genetic model-fitting analyses indicated a moderate genetic effect for funniness ratings of liking the sexual content. The remaining funniness scales seemed entirely influenced by environmental effects. Aversiveness scales mainly showed environmental effects represented in reduced CE models, although twin similarity coefficients showed hints of genetic influences as well, which needs to b...

Figures

Table 3 Twin Similarities and Univariate Model-Fitting (ACE, AE, CE) Results for 3 WD Funniness Scales and Indices a

Table 2 3 WD Humor Test: Means, Standard Deviations, Internal Consistencies, and Correlations With Age and Gender

Table 1 Model of Humor Appreciation as Measured by the 3 WD Including Six Regular Scales and Six Derived Indices

Table 4 Twin Similarities and Univariate Model-Fitting (ACE, AE, CE) Results for 3 WD Aversiveness Scales and Indices a

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Year:2014
Atwinstudyonhumorappreciation:Theimportanceofseparating
structureandcontent
Weber,Marco;Ruch,Willibald;Riemann,Rainer;Spinath,FrankM;Angleitner,Alois
Abstract: Thepresentstudyfocusedongeneticandenvironmentalinuencesonappreciationofstruc-
tureandcontentofhumor. Monozygotic(n=135)anddizygotic(n=60)adulttwinpairsratedtheir
trait-likehumorappreciationusingthe3WDhumortest(Ruch,1992)whichassessesthreebasichumor
stimuli(incongruity-resolutionhumor; nonsensehumor; sexualhumor),andtwobasiccomponentsof
responsestohumor(funniness;aversiveness).Additionally,twoindiceswerederivedfromthesescales,
namelystructurepreferenceandlikingofsexualcontent(i.e.,controlledforhumorstructure).Intraclass
correlationsandbehaviorgeneticmodel-ttinganalysesindicatedamoderategeneticeectforfunniness
ratingsoflikingthesexualcontent. Theremainingfunninessscalesseemedentirelyinuencedbyenvi-
ronmentaleects.AversivenessscalesmainlyshowedenvironmentaleectsrepresentedinreducedCE
models,althoughtwinsimilaritycoecientsshowedhintsofgeneticinuencesaswell,whichneedsto
beunraveledinfutureresearch.Theresultsdemonstratedclearlythatfunninessratingsshouldbesepa-
ratedforstructureandcontent,toobtaindetailedinformationaboutheritabilityofhumorappreciation.
Futureresearchshouldvalidatethesepromisinginitialndingsbyutilizinglargersamples.
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1027/1614-0001/a000136
PostedattheZurichOpenRepositoryandArchive,UniversityofZurich
ZORAURL:https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-103052
JournalArticle
AcceptedVersion
Originallypublishedat:
Weber,Marco;Ruch,Willibald;Riemann,Rainer;Spinath,FrankM;Angleitner,Alois(2014).Atwin
studyonhumorappreciation:Theimportanceofseparatingstructureandcontent.JournalofIndividual
Dierences,35(3):130-136.
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1027/1614-0001/a000136

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RUNNING HEAD: TWIN STUDY ON HUMOR APRRECIATION 1
A twin study on humor appreciation: The importance of separating structure and content
Marco Weber and Willibald Ruch
Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Switzerland
Rainer Riemann
Department of Psychology, University of Bielefeld, Germany
Frank M. Spinath
Department of Psychology, University of Saarland, Germany
Alois Angleitner
Department of Psychology, University of Bielefeld, Germany
Author Notes
Marco Weber, Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Switzerland;
Willibald Ruch, Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Switzerland; Rainer
Riemann, Department of Psychology, University of Bielefeld, Germany; Frank M. Spinath,
Department of Psychology, University of Saarland, Germany; Alois Angleitner, Department
of Psychology, University of Bielefeld, Germany.
Marco Weber is currently at the Department of Psychology, University of South
Carolina, SC, USA.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Marco Weber,
Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA. E-
mail: m.weber@sc.edu

TWIN STUDY ON HUMOR APRRECIATION 2
Abstract
The present study focused on genetic and environmental influences on appreciation of
structure and content of humor. Monozygotic (n = 135) and dizygotic (n = 60) adult twin
pairs rated their trait-like humor appreciation using the 3 WD humor test (Ruch, 1992) which
assesses three basic humor stimuli (incongruity-resolution humor; nonsense humor; sexual
humor), and two basic components of responses to humor (funniness; aversiveness).
Additionally, two indices were derived from these scales, namely structure preference and
liking of sexual content (i.e., controlled for humor structure). Intraclass correlations and
behavior genetic model-fitting analyses indicated a moderate genetic effect for funniness
ratings of liking the sexual content. The remaining funniness scales seemed entirely
influenced by environmental effects. Aversiveness scales mainly showed environmental
effects represented in reduced CE models, although twin similarity coefficients showed hints
of genetic influences as well, which needs to be unraveled in future research. The results
demonstrated clearly that funniness ratings should be separated for structure and content, to
obtain detailed information about heritability of humor appreciation. Future research should
validate these promising initial findings by utilizing larger samples.
Keywords: humor appreciation, twin study, incongruity-resolution humor, nonsense
humor, sexual humor

TWIN STUDY ON HUMOR APRRECIATION 3
A twin study on humor appreciation: The importance of separating structure and content
Introduction
Over the last decades there has been an increase in publications (scientific and non-
scientific) showing that humor is an important topic. For example, humor impacts
individuals’ good mood, and humor shields against the consequences of life stress and daily
hassles (Ruch, 2004). As such effects might be relevant to individuals, it is of importance to
understand genetic and environmental influences on humor appreciation. Previous research
has yielded inconsistent findings; hence, the present study aims at adding further knowledge
by introducing an important structural distinction provided by the two-mode model of humor
appreciation.
An approach to humor appreciation
Ruch (1992; Platt & Ruch, 2014; Ruch & Hehl, 2007) presented a two-mode model of
humor appreciation composed of a stimulus mode and a response mode. The stimulus mode
refers to a taxonomy of jokes and cartoons comprising the dimensions of incongruity-
resolution humor (INC-RES), nonsense humor (NON), and sexual humor (SEX). In the
response mode two orthogonal components in humor appreciation are distinguished:
funniness (
f
) and aversiveness (
a
).
Funniness of humor. Studies of responses to humor show that all positively toned
ratings tend to intercorrelate highly and positively, independent of whether they refer to the
perceived properties of the stimuli (funny, witty, original), or to the recipients' feelings
(exhilarated, amused). This positive response factor also covers both cognitive (clever,
original) and affective (funny, amused) evaluations.
Aversiveness of humor. Negative responses to humor, like indignation,
embarrassment, or boredom were neglected for a long time. However, a humor response
factor of negative affect consistently emerged from the intercorrelations among the negatively
toned response scales (like embarrassing, plain, childish, aggressive) that is orthogonal to the