Interpreting ‘Filler Pause’ in Interpersonal Communication: A Study of Situational Comedy The Big Bang Theory:

The Psychology of Humor: An Integrative Approach

Abstract: Preliminary TOC Chapter 1 Introduction to the Psychology of Humor Chapter 2 Theories and Early Research I: Psychoanalytic and Superiority Theories Chapter 3 Theories and Early Research II: Arousal, Incongruity, and Reversal Theories Chapter 4 The Cognitive Psychology of Humor Chapter 5 The Social Psychology of Humor Chapter 6 The Psychobiology of Humor and Laughter Chapter 7 Personality Approaches to Sense of Humor Chapter 8 The Developmental Psychology of Humor Chapter 9 Humor and Mental Health Chapter 10 Humor, Laughter, and Physical Health Chapter 11 Applications of Humor to Psychotherapy, Education, and the Workplace

Linguistic theories of humor

Abstract: So this English professor comes into class and starts talking about the textual organization of jokes, the taxonomy of puns, the relations between the linguistic form and the content of humorous texts, and other past and current topics in language-based research into humor. At the end he stuffs all

CHAPTER 5 – The Social Psychology of Humor

Abstract: According to recent theory, many of the interpersonal functions of humor derive from its inherently ambiguous nature due to the multiple concurrent meanings that it conveys. Because of this ambiguity, humor is a useful vehicle for communicating certain messages and dealing with situations that would be more difficult to handle using a more serious, unambiguous mode of communication. Importantly, a message communicated in a humorous manner can be retracted more easily than if it were expressed in the serious mode, allowing both the speaker and the listener to save face if the message is not well received. These insights concerning the ambiguity and face-saving potential of humor have been applied by theorists and researchers to account for a wide variety of social uses of humor, including self-disclosure and social probing, decommitment and conflict de-escalation, enforcing social norms and exerting social control, establishing and maintaining status, enhancing group cohesion and identity, discourse management, and social play. The multiple interpersonal functions of humor suggest that it may be viewed as a type of social skill or interpersonal competence. Employed in an adept manner, humor can be a very useful tool for achieving one's interpersonal goals.

Developing a Typology of Humor in Audiovisual Media

Abstract: The main aim of this study was to develop and investigate a typology of humor in audiovisual media. We identified 41 humor techniques, drawing on Berger's (1976, 1993) typology of humor in narratives, audience research on humor preferences, and an inductive analysis of humorous commercials. We analyzed the content of 319 humorous television commercials to investigate (a) whether and how humor techniques cluster into higher order humor categories and (b) which humor techniques and categories characterize commercials aimed at different audience groups. From principle components analysis, 7 categories of humor emerged: slapstick, clownish humor, surprise, misunderstanding, irony, satire, and parody. Our findings showed some marked differences in the humor techniques and categories in commercials aimed at different age and gender groups.