“A sense of humor is no joke!” Research has proven that the presence and level of this quality in a person can show how smart he is and more. This feature has an impact on completely diverse areas of human life.
A sense of humor is not only the ability to make funny jokes and understand jokes. If you compare life to a bumpy road, then it will become a kind of shock absorber that helps you overcome difficulties.
It is interesting that people did not acquire this quality immediately; it is the result of evolution. Thus, scientists claim that it is a direct indicator of the level of intellectual development.
So, a sense of humor serves as a measure of many other human qualities.
Intelligence
People who constantly need to be told “where to laugh” know firsthand how difficult it is to comprehend humor. Processing humor is not for everyone and requires complex thinking and the ability to look at things from different angles. In addition, to understand humor, you simply need a penchant for abstract thinking, imagination, life experience, and therefore intelligence.
Moreover, anthropologists claim that the darker the humor, the higher the intelligence of its owner.
Few people know that black humor is used in psychology. It helps patients cope with tragic events such as illness, the death of a loved one, or discrimination.
Laughter therapy
The healing effect of laughter was discovered in his own practice by the American journalist Norman Cousins in the 1970s. He was diagnosed with a serious disease of the spinal joints. The doctor warned the journalist that out of five hundred patients, only one was recovering.
Cousins did not lose heart, but decided to fight the disease by laughing. He watched comedies every day. At first, laughter helped Cousins get rid of pain for several hours, and after a couple of months of laughter therapy, Cousins was cured. Today, laughter therapy is widely used in oncology clinics in Israel, in Japan tuberculosis is treated with laughter, and in Holland there is a clown in every hospital.
Creative skills
Researchers say that a sense of humor is also directly proportional to the creativity of the wearer. Thus, people who have a penchant for humor show higher results in creativity tests. Creativity, sense of humor and intelligence are three qualities that arise from human cognitive abilities.
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The ability to respond sharply to an interlocutor, speak “punchily” and “not mince words” indicates that a person can do much more than “burn people’s hearts with a verb.”
Why develop
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When you find yourself in a company where practically no one is known, there is always a feeling of inconvenience, embarrassment and even fear. A person with a sense of humor is unfamiliar with these feelings. He always knows how to build a dialogue, where to joke, how to bring everyone in the company closer together.
A sense of humor brings all company members together
Humor has its own functions:
- Get to know the other person and yourself,
- Develop communication skills,
- Develop empathy and sensitivity,
- Be able to step into another person's shoes
- Helps you join the team
- Acts as a psychological defense and protects against personality disorders,
- May be an option to express aggression or interest,
- Assistant in processing information.
From a psychotherapeutic point of view, humor helps you look at your problems, desires, goals, personal qualities from the outside, then, transforming them into the forms necessary for a person, accept them. This is how external and internal integration of the personality occurs.
Absolutely everyone can laugh. A sense of humor is a certain self-irony, which means the ability to accept and understand oneself. Wit is necessary for qualitatively improving the analysis of both oneself and the world around us, gaining psychological safety, a sense of security and self-confidence.
Developing humor is not always an easy task, but it is interesting from the standpoint of creating jokes. When there is desire and diligence, then your loved ones will be in a good mood, which can be lifted in a short time. An optimistic attitude and a positive outlook on reality are helpers on the way to the goal of creating wit.
Self acceptance
People with a good sense of humor are prone to self-irony and, as a result, deep introspection. Proof of this is the widespread popularity of the stand-up comedian movement. People from the stage talk about their thoughts, observations, problems and often about their so-called “pain”, which is often mentioned by members of the jury of the TV show “Open Microphone” on the TNT channel and, concurrently, by the first stand-up comedians in Russia.
It is precisely because of the ability to look “inside themselves” that people with a good sense of humor react more easily to their own failures and shortcomings.
You will laugh: all about the meaning of humor, its social role and consequences for jokers
What is humor
There is still no single point of view about what humor is and how it works, although humanity began to ask these questions back in ancient times.
What is not surprising is that people learned to laugh before they spoke. One of the first thinkers to formulate his theory of humor was Plato. He believed that people laugh when they feel superior to others. Plato develops this idea, in particular, in the dialogue “Philebus”, where his teacher Socrates utters the following words: “We have called everything weak ridiculous and everything strong hated.” Plato's student Aristotle also held approximately the same views. Sigmund Freud promoted a different view on the nature of humor. In his work “Wit and Its Relation to the Unconscious,” the Austrian psychologist developed the idea that humor is an attempt by the conscious mind to express thoughts and feelings that are usually suppressed or prohibited in society. That is, humor, according to Freud, is another type of sublimation.
Now among scientists, the so-called theory of incongruity formulated by Immanuel Kant is more popular than the ideas of Freud and the ancient Greeks. For us to feel funny, a joke or a funny situation must contain some kind of paradox, a discrepancy with our expectations. According to this theory, there are two stages of humor perception. At the first, we notice an inconsistency, a paradox - the end of a joke or the outcome of a situation goes against our expectations. On the second day, our brain resolves this discrepancy and correlates the end of the joke with the beginning - this is how we understand what the joke is, what’s funny about it. Some researchers add a third stage to this stage, at which we realize that it was a joke, and not just a “riddle” about some kind of paradox.
There is another theory about the nature of humor - the “benign violation theory”. Scientists from the Humor Research Laboratory at the University of Colorado are working on it. According to this theory, humor is a combination of three conditions: 1) the situation is harmless; 2) the situation is a violation (including our expectations, in this sense this theory is similar to the ideas of Kant and his followers); 3) the harmlessness of the situation and the “violation” are realized by the person at the same time. By violation, scientists understand any circumstances that run counter to people’s ideas about the world. According to researchers, this is why we laugh at funny accents, videos of people falling unexpectedly, and people acting “weird”—all of which go against our expectations of the world without posing a threat.
These are four main theories about how humor works, but there is no single correct one among them. Nowadays, the theory of inconsistency and the theory of harmless violation are more popular than others. Perhaps in the future scientists will come up with some new theory that will be more complete and more accurate than the existing ones.
Humor and brain
Neuroscientists have found that several parts of the brain are responsible for humor. The frontal lobe is involved in information processing - through its work, in the terms of the theories of Kant and scientists from the University of Colorado, you “understand” what the paradox of a joke is, that something in it does not correspond to your expectations. Then, thanks to the nucleus accumbens, you form an emotional response to the joke - pleasure or laughter. The prefrontal cortex, part of the frontal lobe, determines whether a joke deserves your attention. If so, it forces the brain to more actively process incoming information and triggers the reward system, of which the nucleus accumbens is part. Subsequently, the “pleasure” hormones - serotonin and dopamine - take over, and it is thanks to them that jokes improve your mood.
Such a different sense of humor
You've probably noticed that some people's jokes seem funny to you, but others don't. The point may not be that the latter’s brain works differently or lacks a sense of humor, but that it does not coincide with yours. Researchers have identified 4 main types of humor.
Affiliative humor
Jokes of this type are aimed at defusing the situation and winning over those around you. Funny videos with cats are just an example of affiliative humor.
People with such a sense of humor joke “in a kind way” - you won’t hear cynical jokes or sarcasm from them. Typically, people with an affiliative sense of humor have fairly high self-esteem, make friends faster, are less likely to suffer from depression, and generally feel quite happy. They are also more extroverted and, as a rule, open to everything new.
Aggressive humor
This type of humor involves fairly harsh sarcasm and even, albeit playful, insults towards others. To hear an example of such humor, open any rap battle. Racist and sexist jokes are also examples of aggressive humor.
There are more men with this sense of humor than women. They are also characterized by reduced emotional stability and responsibility.
Self-enhancing humor
People with this type of humor are not afraid to laugh at themselves. They often tell funny stories about themselves and their lives, making fun of the failures that happen to them in a positive manner.
Such people have fairly high self-esteem, they are less likely to have depressive thoughts, they are optimistic and, like those with an affiliative sense of humor, they are extroverts, open to new experiences.
Self-defeating humor
This sense of humor also involves making jokes to oneself, but unlike self-stimulating humor, such jokes are more likely to evoke sympathy from others. People with a self-deprecating sense of humor make themselves the target of ridicule. They may joke about how they were mistreated as children, or make sarcastic jokes about their race or gender. A good example of self-deprecating humor can be seen at the beginning of the 2nd round of the battle between Oksimiron and ST.
People with such a sense of humor have low self-esteem, are less emotionally stable, and are prone to depression and anxiety.
To determine what kind of sense of humor you have, you can answer a special questionnaire developed by scientists.
Does humor have a nationality?
When communicating with foreigners or watching foreign comedy shows, films and TV series, you probably noticed that “their” sense of humor does not always coincide with “ours”. Some jokes from American TV shows that make audiences laugh may seem incomprehensible or unfunny to us. And, conversely, try to joke with a foreigner using a phrase like “money in the morning, chairs in the evening” - he most likely will not understand you at all (unless he suddenly turns out to be a devoted fan of Ilf and Petrov, but we wouldn’t count on that). In Russia, even those who have never read “12 Chairs” will understand this phrase, it has become so popular.
The humor of every nation has its own characteristics. The brain, of course, works the same for representatives of all nationalities when processing jokes. And we all also perceive humor, which is primitive from the point of view of understanding, in the same way - a Russian, a French, and a Chinese will laugh at a video with funny cats.
National characteristics are revealed when it comes to more complex jokes, one way or another tied to a specific context and implying the presence of background knowledge. For example, you won’t understand jokes from an American talk show about a certain senator simply because you don’t know anything about this senator (and most Americans watching the show know and will understand well).
Another reason for national differences in humor is its social function.
Humor has the ability to unite people, and jokes about those who do not belong to a given social group do this task especially well. That is why the humor of many nations often contains a whole layer of jokes about other nations.
For example, the French often make fun of the British, the Swedes often make fun of the Norwegians, and in Russia jokes about “stupid” Americans are popular.
By the way, racist and sexist jokes can also serve a unifying function and increase people’s trust in each other. Whether jokes of this kind are acceptable or not are defined by social boundaries that vary from company to company and culture to culture. That is why you should be especially careful with such jokes - a misogynistic or homophobic joke that will go well in the company of your close Russian friends may seem offensive or simply stupid to your new acquaintances from Sweden.
What a good sense of humor says about a person
Although a sense of humor is subjective, some people are better at making jokes than others. Some people do it so well that they become comedians and make money from their jokes. Scientists have discovered how people with a good sense of humor differ from those around them.
The results of some scientific research are disappointing for inveterate pranksters. A study conducted in the 1920s found that children with a good sense of humor were more likely to die at a young age than their “boring” peers.
Funny Finnish police officers turned out to be more prone to obesity and smoking than their colleagues who cannot joke. And according to another study, the life expectancy of American comedians is on average 8 years less than that of the military.
British scientists also recently found that professional comedians have a greater predisposition to mental illness than representatives of other professions.
But there is also good news for jokers: they are smarter than those who cannot joke, and even more often have sex - a good sense of humor increases the sexual attractiveness of both men and women in the eyes of others. One study even found that women who had more sexual partners were better at telling jokes than others. At the same time, it is precisely to attract the attention of the opposite sex that men often joke - from the point of view of evolutionary psychology, a sense of humor serves as a way for women to choose the smartest men to procreate. In general, if you want to look smarter and more attractive in the eyes of others, learn to joke funny.
Mental health
Researchers have found a connection between a healthy sense of humor and normal psychological well-being. According to the results of tests and surveys, they found that emotional well-being is determined, among other things, by the ability to laugh at what is happening around.
Yes, your sense of humor is an indicator of your mental health. The study identified the connection between the two by conducting a survey that looked at various aspects of humor, contact with nature and its impact on psychological well-being.
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Laughter and pregnancy
Israeli experts led by professor of gynecology Shevah Friedler conducted an experiment in which they proved that laughter increases the chances of conceiving a child during in vitro fertilization (IVF). After IVF, some patients went to a 15-minute clown show. 36.4% of women who were entertained by a clown became pregnant. Successful fertilization among those who did not attend the performance occurred in only 20.2% of cases. Professor Friedler believes that the secret to success lies in relaxation, as laughter reduces stress levels.
Life satisfaction
The ability to see the funny not only in joyful situations, but also in difficult moments of life, helps to cope with difficulties easier. A survey among older people showed that those people who treated difficult periods with humor generally spoke more positively about the years they had lived.
Although all the research and evidence surrounding this issue has its flaws and caveats, it cannot be denied that humor really helps overcome difficulties.
According to social surveys, a sense of humor is in most cases at the top of the list of qualities that people would like to see in their friends and partners.
The modern world does not stand still. It evolves along with man. The reality is such that it is very difficult to survive in it without a sense of humor. Popular culture is full of aspects related to humor; we can say that modern society is one big stage on which everyone reads their stand-up.
If you cannot consider yourself to be a person with an extraordinary sense of humor, do not be discouraged. To begin with, start to have a simpler attitude towards what is happening around you, look for the good in everything. And most importantly, “smile: it annoys everyone”!
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What is a sense of humor
A sense of humor is a person’s ability to find contradictions and features of the world around him and be able to improve them or colorize them with the help of comic speech, sketches and simple, uncomplicated phrases. The psychology of humor, according to experts, corresponds to a mature and healthy personality.
A preschool child has wit to a much greater extent than an adult. It is much easier for a child to develop in an environment of positive emotions and play. In preschool age, a child’s wit manifests itself in the desire to make older brothers and sisters and parents laugh, to be inventive in the wording of what is said, and to create a positive environment.
A sense of humor helps create a positive mood
The famous TV show “KVN” is an example of where people with a sense of humor gather. Teams entertain the audience in every possible way, thereby enriching their inner world with energy and good emotions. There are many manifestations of humor in the visual arts, for example, in modern and postmodern art, and in the caricature genre.
Associative thinking
The supporters of the theory of associative thinking came closest to solving the phenomenon of humor. They believe that the ironic presentation of information represents a kind of protest against deviation from the social norm.
“Each of us has psychological negativity accumulated as a result of life experience,” Raymond Smulyan shares his knowledge. — For example, your wife throws unreasonable hysterics out of jealousy. This means there is every reason that a story about another woman who did something stupid for the same reason will make you laugh.”
