This assignment is similar to the week #12 & #13 assignment. Please be sure to synthesize.
Find a topic that relates to the material you discussed in your previous posts.
Briefly recap what you discussed in week #12 & #13 about this topic (1 paragraph should be sufficient).
Conduct further research the topic using at least three new internet sites of content (not fluffy sites) AND at least one research article. These can include one video if used as an example.
After viewing the web sites (and articles), please take a moment to synthesize what you read/saw and then integrate it (along with the material from the text) into a quality post of what you read. When you write assume your reader has limited knowledge on the topic. Give the reader detail and background material so they can follow along, read and learn from what you are writing (i.e., explain things). It is OK to have fun and to be creative with this blog post.
Next, write a brief paragraph on how this builds on your previous post on this topic from week #12 & #13.
Please make sure you use the terms, terminology and concepts you have learned so far in the class. It should be apparent from reading your post that you are a college student well underway in a course in psychology.
Please use spaces between your paragraphs to make your post easier to read - thanks in advance
Let me know if you have any questions.
In my previous posts, I have outlined the hazards of using humor in the workplace, particularly through discussing sexual harassment. Despite governmental efforts to make sexual harassment less ambiguous, it is still apparent that what is and what isn’t considered sexual harassment isn’t very clear-cut. Because of this, many companies have implemented sexual harassment training session and even more have written conduct codes; however, even with these preventative measures implemented, sexual harassment still occurs. As a result, there have been many points of advice outlined that employees and their employers should follow to avoid such situations, some of which include knowing what your coworkers find offensive and what they don’t find offensive, steering away from racial, sexist, and political humor, etc., and perhaps the best advice of when in doubt, leave it out!
I feel as though I have exhausted the possible outlets to talk about the possible detrimental effects of humor in terms of sexual harassment, so I have decided to delve a little further into the advantages of using humor in the workplace.
Many of the benefits of humor in the workplace outlined in the text coincide with those that we learned about when talking about the social aspect of humor, but instead of applying it to personal relationships, it has been applied to professional relationships with coworkers. Humor helps form and/or strengthen relationships amongst coworkers as well as help provide a bridge of communication when discussing conflicting work views.
Not only does humor increase the likelihood that an individual will be hired (studies show that individuals with a good sense of humor are more likely to be hired over those who do not have a sense of humor), it also has benefits for the company as well. Companies that have friendlier work environments have employees who are more productive, loyal, on time, and are less absent from work (take days off, sick days, etc.). There is also some evidence that maybe it is not the positive work environment alone that produces such increases, but it may be that better quality workers are drawn to those types of work environments.
There is also evidence that greater employee satisfaction also increases customer service, which in turn, benefits the company as well. Work environments that are not fun also contribute to faster burn out which may result in people quitting their jobs. Obviously, having to hire and train new employees wastes a lot of time and productivity that could have been prevented.
As we have read in previous chapters, humor is correlated with increased creativity. This may really come into play for companies who do marketing or design. Because humor and creativity is correlated, it is likely beneficial for these types of companies to implement humor in order to produce effective marketing to sell their products. This creativity may also translate into creating product ads that involve humor, which also may increase sales. After all, humor increases memory and attention to the product at hand!
Overall, it seems as though humor is a very beneficial tool in the workplace; however, as I have discussed in previous posts, if not used correctly can get the employee as well as the company in big trouble! Implementing humor related programs and investing in team building is definitely seems worth the investment, but along with that, sexual harassment programs are also a necessary investment as well!
http://www.workplaceissues.com/arhumor.htm
http://www.canadaone.com/ezine/oct06/humour_at_work.html
http://find.galegroup.com/gtx/retrieve.do?contentSet=IAC-Documents&qrySerId=&inPS=true&tabID=T002&prodId=ITOF&searchId=R1&retrieveFormat=PDF¤tPosition=1&userGroupName=uni_rodit&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&sort=DateDescend&docId=A156481710&noOfPages=12
My previous two blogs from week 12 & 13 have discussed what effect brain damages have on our humor processes. Within this research I found that if the right frontal lobe is damaged individuals are most likely going to experience a loss of humor comprehension. Within my blogs I discussed how people with right frontal lobe damage are more likely to use ‘slapstick humor.’ This type of humor is often inappropriate, blunt, rude and offensive. However, people with right frontal lobe damage are unable to comprehend when to experience humor and use humor in an appropriate way.
In my final blog about this topic, I’ve researched more about the role and functions of the right frontal lobe and why humor is affected by this structure. Also, since we have learned that humor is the “best medicine,” I wanted to research if humor & mirth can help those with brain injuries and help the recovery process.
The right frontal lobe has such a great impact on our humor processes because this area of the brain is considered to be the center of personality & emotional functioning. Also, research shows that the right frontal lobe is more active during negative emotions which might explain why people experience slapstick humor after brain injuries in this area. The slapstick humor is a lot more offensive and crude versus positive and fun humor. If the right frontal lobe is damaged, people will have a more difficult time processing their emotions and making appropriate decisions and actions. Our humor processes are strongly impacted by the right frontal lobe functions. I have read about many people who have friends and family with damages to this particular brain area describing how the individuals personality and humor expression changed dramatically after the injury. Overall, the most important part of the brain that helps controls our humor process appears to the be the right frontal lobe and therefore injuries to this area usually lead to a loss of humor appreciation and comprehension.
Throughout class we learned that humor can boost our immune systems, reduce stress, treat depression, and much more. Researchers have looked into the effects of humor for people with brain injuries. Although humor along can’t cure all brain injuries without appropriate medical attention, it does appear to have an effect similar to a pain relief pill. Many patients suggest that humor helps them manage and cope with their pain and is a quick fix to rain reduction. For example, one patient said, “ a clown is like an aspirin, only it works twice as fast.” Often times, patients with brain injuries lose several friends right away because of they are unable to communicate or function properly which is something their old friends are not used to. Humor and laughter allows brain injured people to connect with others. People with brain injuries want to be seen as equal to others as they did prior to the injury. Laughter helps these individuals learn how to connect and communicate in a more relaxed and comforting way.
Overall, our brain controls our ability to appreciate and comprehend humor. Brain injuries can have a dramatic effect on this ability however humor & laughter can help people with this problem learn new ways to use their brain to communicate with other people. Once again, we see that humor plays a major role in our social settings. Also, humor influences how we cope, interact, and grow despite fallbacks.
http://www.ehow.com/facts_5798747_right-frontal-lobe-brain-do_.html
http://www.holisticonline.com/humor_therapy/humor_mcghee_article.htm
http://www.odemagazine.com/doc/65/brain-injury/
In my pervious blogs (12 & 13) I discussed the concept on humor and persuasion and its effects on advertisement. Humor and persuasion are seen in a variety of advertisement, such as internet sites, commercials on television, newspapers, magazines and the media and many more. Our book talks about how advertisers use humor to persuade their viewers to buy their products. Since I have had difficulty finding a lot of information to continue with advertisement, I thought I would further my knowledge on the strategies people and companies use to make their advertisements persuasive and somewhat humorous to the public to get out their message appropriately.
A study from our textbook found that the addition of humor to a low-intensity, soft sell advertising approach increased the level of persuasion, whereas the addition of humor to a hard sell approach actually decreased persuasiveness. Weinberger and Gulas (1992) suggested that the effectiveness of humor in advertising depends on the objectives one seeks to achieve, the target audience, the product being advertised, and the type of humor used.
There are elements of successful advertising strategies which show us that convention tells us that the radio, the television and the newspapers are the best channels. But this was long before the revolution of the Internet occurred. Today, the Internet is the only guaranteed medium of advertising. Mass advertising methods like billboard advertising and banner advertising are still alive, but their effectiveness is in serious doubt. Even though everyone knows that they are virtually pointless today, no one can afford to get rid of them altogether.
Do you ever notice that they try and use catchy phrases/sayings and pictures to persuade you that their product is better than all others. For example, everyone has seen the ax body wash commercials and how on the back of their product it shows a guy getting the ladies and so forth, some guy actually sued them because of false labeling. According to our book humor can sometimes have negative impact on persuasion. Also, explains how many people in the advertisement world don’t use humor to persuade their audience but do use persuasion in a non-humorous manner.
Internet advertising, is cost effective, far reaching, and omnipresent. Moreover, it also provides the consumer with an instant means to compare, so this indirectly implies that for a product to be successful, it needs to be superior. This is where product innovation comes in. The whole idea is to create something so novel and revolutionary that it simply amazes everyone, and then go all out and declare it to the world. Just look at the Apple iPhone for the best example. Successful advertising strategies need to remind the buyer what he/she is getting.
Advertisement is a mass of communicating information intended to persuade buyers to buy products with a view to maximizing a company’s profits. Advertising strategies that increase the number of units sold stimulate economies in the production process. The advertising industry persuades people to buy products and services that, without advertising, might go unnoticed by the consumer. They analyze age, gender, ethnicity, and educational demographics of the targeted consumer. They ascertain consumer behavior. For example, they might consider advertising a particular toiletry in a particular magazine. They will then research the magazine’s readership to decide if their proposed advertisement would appeal to the consumer likely to use the product. When they are satisfied that the magazine is a good choice, they must then decide what would be the best approach, visually and verbally, to grab that consumer’s attention amid all the other editorial and pictorial distractions as the consumer reads through the magazine.
The same kind of strategizing is necessary for advertising successfully on radio or television. With so many programs aired on the media, advertisers need to know who actually listens to or watches particular programs. The kind of advertisement is vital: Placing a frivolous commercial on a serious program or an earnest one on a comedic program would more likely repel than attract the consumer. With the high cost of both making commercials and airing them on popular programs, advertisers must also consider whether the size of the audience is worthwhile. Some advertisers apparently feel that quantity is more important than quality and are apt to spend their advertising dollars to run short, ten-to fifteen-second commercials several times during an hour or two of television programming. Others believe an engrossing thirty-second commercial strategically placed in a popular prime-time program will reap more impressive benefits.
Furthermore, brand names are so well known that many of them have become part of the national vocabulary. People are as likely to say “Kleenex” as to say “tissue.” Many toys and food items are purchased at the insistence of children who have watched television commercials promoting the products. The idea that advertising helps to sell a profusion of products goes hand in hand with the idea that more and more goods are manufactured because advertising creates a demand for them. Advertisements increasingly equate consumers’ personal happiness with their consumption of goods.
Overall, as I stated in my previous blog humor seems to be more effective influencing emotional variables, such as liking and positive mood, than cognitive ones, such as comprehension of a message. We like commercials that are straight to the point and give us almost like an “aha” message where we don’t cognitively have to examine what the advertisement was trying to portray. Some studies have shown that if an advertisement can include humor in their message then it enhances the listener’s liking of the source and the product being advertised. The role of humor in persuasion depends on the kind of processing involved (peripheral or central) and characteristics of the audience, the topic, and the source of the message.
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/successful-advertising-strategies.html
http://american-business.org/898-advertising-industry.html
http://www.mbaknol.com/marketing-management/importance-of-advertising/
In my previous posts, I have discussed relationships, and how humor affects them. I believe this is a popular subject, and one that everyone can relate to. Most people believe that humor, since it is often seen in a positive view, is always constructive. It usually is in most cases, but as with many other things in the world, it has another side. According the research from my previous posts, humor can either have a positive effect on a relationship, or it can also be detrimental. It is shown that humor can have two sides in many different aspects, being that it can be healthy or unhealthy, aggressive or not, and positive or negative to a relationship. So far my posts have contained research about how humor can be used to strengthen the relationship, how it is best to have the same sense of humor, and how it can also be harmful to a relationship. I have also mentioned in my previous posts how humor can be used as a tool in a relationship. Again, this relates back to how to use that tool to make the humor be positive in the relationship.
At first, many people might ask exactly how to use humor as a tool in relationships; meaning how to use humor to strengthen their relationships. I have mentioned in previous blogs ways to use humor as a tool to strengthen your relationship. Some of those were laughing at yourself, or just laughing with your partner. Other ways mentioned on selfgrowth.com are becoming a “humor hound”, meaning that you try to find humor in everything. If you are able to find humor in everything, then other people such as your partner may laugh at your jokes, which will then make them more attracted to you, according to the textbook. Another way to use humor as a tool would be to use it to help your partner communicate with you more. The website claims that if you encourage your partner to share their humor with you, then they will see you listening which will ultimately make them feel more at ease.
Throughout the class, we have been taught that humor is a good way to communicate with people. If people don’t know how to use humor to communicate though, then that is when we have problem. Before starting a relationship with someone, we must first know if we really like them enough to be completely committed. According to the textbook, and my previous posts, people with a shared sense of humor are more likely to be attracted to you. So what exactly are the types of humor that just don’t work with women? Marieclaire.com claims that men who practice self-deprecating and bathroom humor, girl moments, and physical craziness are seen as unattractive. This relates directly to my previous posts when self-deprecation was used too much with personal topics, such as financial loss or weight gain. Self-deprecation was seen as very negative to a relationship, and is also seen as negative to first impressions also.
According to the studies done by Louise Omnake, adolescent boys were shown to like “shady” jokes more than other jokes, which was not the case with the females. Even though it was not mentioned in my previous post about Dane Cook’s “Bad Relationships”, my boyfriend Jordan found the dirtier parts of the jokes to be funnier than the other jokes. I found them to be slightly humorous also, but not to the point where I had a belly laugh. The study also claimed that people were more likely to rate themselves high on possessing a sense of humor. If you are wanting to be seen as attractive to your partner, or your desired partner, you would want to have a sense of humor. This would also mean that you want to have the same, in order to get along.
This blog builds on my previous posts from week 12 and week 13 by furthering the concept of using humor as a tool, and also builds on the fact that a shared sense of humor is best. As I have discussed in previous posts, it is necessary to know how to use humor in order to attract your potential partner, it is important to share a sense of humor, and it is important to know how to use humor in order to be in a healthy relationship, and sustain it.
URL's: http://www.marieclaire.com/sex-love/men/bad-sense-of-humor
http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/Moore34.html
http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/apl/21/6/688.pdf
For the past two assignments I researched humor as a defense mechanism. I found some interesting information pertaining to this topic. Some of it was typical and what I expected. I know that humor can be used to lighten the mood and to protect oneself. I was really interested in the facts I found about how humor was used as a defense mechanism during the Holocaust. It was used by the Jews to get from day to day without trying to kill themselves. I also found that the mind uses humor when we’re confronted with things that may hurt us so that we can process things in a way that preserves ourselves psychologically. I also learned that humor as a defense mechanism can become pathological and in these cases, is no longer a healthy thing.
For this week’s assignment I tried to go in and find out different ways humor is use as a defense mechanism. Unsurprisingly I learned a lot about sarcasm as a defense mechanism. But through all the repeated information I did come across some new facts. Humor can be used as a defense mechanism (when dealing with sarcasm) in two ways. The first is that it can be used innocently. Not intending to hurt anyone else, but needing to put some distance between oneself and the topic, or just teasing out of habit. The second way is using it to purposely devalue another person. This is when sarcastic humor is used to point and laugh at another person. This gives the person creating the humor an ego boost which they may need. The most sarcastic people are typically very socially savvy people. They’re good at evaluating social reactions and emotions quickly. Perhaps this is so that they can say “oh just kidding!”
What was interesting is that what I read played right into the Aggression/Superiority theory. As far as the ego boost that sarcasm gives, Grunner said that humor originated as a “Battle of wits.” This makes sense in the context of what I read because if someone is making fun of someone else they are typically trying to prove themselves wittier than the person they are making fun of. The person who is less witty comes off being kind of stupid and foolish.
An interesting side note that I did not find a lot of other information on was that sarcastic humor is a way to express aggression towards others and insecurity towards themselves. This kind of humor in married couples could increase the odds of divorce.
I also found information on how homosexual’s can use humor as a defense mechanism. It can be a means of uniting homosexuals against the injustice of not having the same rights and privileges as a married couple, and against the stereotypes that are put on homosexual couples. A lot of homosexual comedians use humor to stand up for all homosexuals and to, as I said unite them and make a joke out of the situation they are sometimes put in by society today.
The last interesting thing I found was the use of “gallows humor.” This is humor about pain and ugliness in different situations. I found a lot about using this as a doctor, in order to get some professional distance from patients but I think this could apply to a wide range of instances. It was the kind of humor they used in the Holocaust; I think it could also be depreciating humor one makes about themselves and their misfortunes which could include a number of situations. It is a way of having to avoid feeling things, which I think is used quite often.
http://www.glbtq.com/literature/humor,6.html
http://books.google.com/books?id=8oGB6CTF7vUC&pg=PA83&lpg=PA83&dq=witty+humor+as+a+defense+mechanism&source=bl&ots=aFrZi24Nkk&sig=OREtdukxlGDMZQPP0tUsqeZDAgg&hl=en&ei=WNUCTdOgBcfFnAeewcjlDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CCQQ6AEwBDgK#v=onepage&q=witty%20humor%20as%20a%20defense%20mechanism&f=false
http://www.stevepavlina.com/forums/social-relationships/43773-using-humor-shield.html
The last couple weeks I discussed humor in the workplace. I found that by and large the benefits of humor in the workplace have been exagerated, and companies ought to spend more time teaching employees how to better uncover their own sense of humor, promote humor appreciation over humor production, and to think critically about humor they use, and also to use it very judiciously. This would seem to be the best tactic for maximizing the benefits of humor while minimizing the numerous problems that arise as a result of misunderstood or hurtful humor.
I read a little from another post about sexaul harrassment and humor so I decided to do a little research on this since I hadn't touched on the topics in either of my previous posts. Sexual harassment is a serious problem and in reality has no relationship with humor as humor, which is a social phenomena cannot take place if one of the people in the group is experiencing fear, pain, guilt, or shame. This is how humor get's pulled into the debate however.
Many people after being accused of sexual harassment claim they were 'only joking' or can't believe that someone took them that serious. This often leads to a "Well I guess you can't say anything anymore" response from many people. I think our analysis of humor this year provides us with an incredibly sophisticated way of talking about what is really going on with this issue.
We've learned first that humor is a social phenomena, that means it takes place between and amongst people. If one person finds something funny, and others don't, it may be because there are other people who find it funny, they are simply not present (this accounts for most of the situations that people find themselves being the only person laughing). However, if truly no one else thinks it's funny than by definition the person is wrong, they are simply misunderstanding the situation some how.
We've also learned that humor very often involves sexual and aggressive topics. The reason for this seems to be that it is these topics that are most benefitted by viewing them through a playful or humorous lens. However, most people do not have the extra knowledge that humor is a TOOL for PLAYING with these concepts. Not a filter that makes any discussion of these topics acceptable or understandable to everyone listening. In this way many people say "Just kidding" or "no offense" because they lack this understanding.
After looking at different sites I'm unsure what percentage of sexual harassment claims are as a result of misunderstandings (meaning the offender really had no idea they were doing anything wrong at all). However, I imagine in cases when the offender does not think they are doing anything wrong offensive humor is the cause a majority of the time. This I think can give us all a clue as to how to begin to put an end to at the very least 'accidental' sexual harassment (I'm not sure there really is such a thing).
When employees understand that what makes something funny is that it is the recognition of an incongruity (a violation of expectations) they begin to understand that humor in general has the potential to be very harmful (since it must force someone else to recognize something other than what they expect). In order to understand what types of humor other people find funny you need to understand and know that person very well, i.e. Which violations of their expectations are they comfortable with and which are they not? However, in most instances you only see one aspect of your co-workers, and you don't know them nearly as well as you think you do. For this reason humor may seem so simple and easy; people forget just how much time they've spent getting to know their own friends and families' sense of humor. Also, context is everything. What is funny in your at your house may not be funny at church. I don't want to talk about this anymore than to say it adds yet another dimension to the problem of figuring out what your co-workers may find funny.
One last thing I thought was interesting from my sources. A vAST majority of sexual harassment cases take place between people of unequal status within the company; with the upper status individual usually being the offender. One important thing we've learned about humor is that almost all of the beneficial effects of humor deal with creating in-group cohesion amongst EQUALS, and that this is done very frequently at the expense of a common out-group member or members.
After this analysis we can ask, What is there to gain from an upper status individual telling or making a sexual joke towards a lower status individual? First, all jokes are capable of being misunderstood since they are a communicative TOOL, not a universal emotional experience, sexual jokes all the more so. Secondly, humor in general IS a universal emotional experience, which makse us forget sometimes just how much time and energy we spend with our friends and family perfecting our 'humorous relationships'. This, on top of the difficulties or understanding how context might impact these issues indicates that all humor must be carefully thought out, not simply thrown around. And last, even if an upper-ranked employee truly believes their sexual joke will be appreciated by a lower ranking co-worker whom they know very well they must ask themselves, is there a better way for us to foster this relationship given the risks? Research suggests there is an overwhelmingly likely chance that the joke will never be appreciated, and that it will lead to a greater gap between the two employees. Why risk it?
Content:
http://womeninbusiness.about.com/od/smallbusinesslegalissues/a/legalriskshumor.htm
http://humanresources.about.com/od/glossarys/a/sexualharassdef.htm
Stats:
http://shsf.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=58
http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/statistics/enforcement/sexual_harassment.cfm
In my previous post, I continued to discuss humor and its effect on our physical health. Two new articles that I found were very optimistic about the idea that humor can be good for our health. The University of Maryland did a study on humor and cardiovascular health and Dr. Paul McGhee wrote an articles about humor and its positive effects on our immune system. I found an article on WebMD, however, that wasn’t as optimistic. This article mentioned the very real possibility of whether or not these positive effects have more to do with a person’s personality than the amount of humorous stimuli they’re exposed to.
I found three more great articles that discuss the affects of humor and laughter on health. The first was an article from the University of Maryland talking about a study they did on laughter’s affect on blood vessels. They had two groups in their study watching 15 minutes of two very different movies that were meant to evoke different emotions between the groups. The emotional distress group watched the first 15 minutes of Saving Private Ryan and the laughter group watched King Pin. Blood vessel activity was measured before and after viewings. Brachial artery flow was reduced in 14 out of 20 subjects that watched Saving Private Ryan. Beneficial blood vessel relaxation occurred in 19 out of the 20 subjects that watched King Pin. Laughter off-sets the impact of mental stress, which is harmful to the endothelium.
I also found another article written by Dr. Paul McGhee discussing the promising effects of humor on pain. It seems that pain reduction due to humor is the one aspect of humor and physical health that is the most promising in that it has the most evidence and results can be replicated. McGhee brought up the case of Norman Cousins, which the books also mentions. Cousins suggested that laughter may have an effect on pain possibly due to a release of endorphins. Evidence from the text suggests that pain reduction isn’t necessarily due to laughter itself, but to the positive emotion of mirth that goes along with humor and is expressed by laughter.
The research article by R.A. Martin that I found had components in it that were mentioned in the book: the five potential mechanisms that need to be considered and different ways of looking at a person’s sense of humor. First is that act of laughter itself causes positive physiological effects on the body. In fact the cause of one’s laughter is unimportant. The second is that the positive effects of humor come from the positive emotion it evokes. In this mechanism, laughter is necessarily essential—the feelings may be all that is needed. The third takes a more cognitive approach, and one’s ability to cope with psychosocial stress. The fourth mechanism takes an interpersonal focus by saying that one may benefit from humor by increasing their social support. The fifth and final mechanism is more behavioral. Humor may be effective by having a healthy lifestyle. Those with a better sense of humor may have a more optimistic outlook on life and, therefore, are more likely to engage in more healthy behaviors.
Martin also made suggestions for future researchers. He recommended that researchers need to capture the definitions of humor that are relevant to their hypothesis. They need to be clear about what mechanisms they are going to be investigating in their research. Most experiments have not monitored participants’ laughter and most have not had positive and negative control groups. Non-humorous control conditions are needed. We need more experiments that test long-term health outcomes, not just short-term. In his advice for future research, he suggests that finding relationships between humor and laughter and physical health calls for greater research efforts, even though research so far hasn’t been too promising.
One thing Martin mentioned in the article that I thought was very optimistic was that even though experiments have not provided solid concrete evidence that humor is beneficial for several areas of our physical health, it hasn’t proven that it is not beneficial.
I think that this adds on to my previous posts by adding more physical aspects that can be affected by humor. I thought the research article by R.A. Martin had some great ideas and suggestions for future research, and instead of being skeptical about this type of research, he was optimistic and said that we just need keep doing research and take on different approaches and hopefully make some promising discoveries.
http://www.umm.edu/news/releases/laughter2.htm
http://www.laughterremedy.com/articles/health_articles.html
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&hid=14&sid=d7e0cc5a-75c5-49a5-9cdb-1b0c6c35bf61%40sessionmgr13
What I have really come to find most interesting is our innate tendency to use humor. For example, we use humor to make social situations more comfortable and thus easier to communicate. Humor helps people relax and get to know another person. It can also communicate ideas a safe and comfortable way. We use humor and teasing to communicate limits or social boundaries to another, like a children or someone within your peer group. Similarly, the book stated that people who are the leaders or dominate in the group are more likely than others to use humor and teasing. This reminds me of studying juvenile apes using social play fighting as a way to communicate dominance or hierarchy without actually fighting. Furthermore, most of us use humor can help us humans cope with stress, or handle life difficulties.
In evolutionary psychology, we learned that human/Homo sapiens were able to survive better in groups. Thus I think humor was naturally selected for as a tool to facilitate living and working together without killing each other. This is why we all innately use humor as a healthy way to relieve tension or interact with eachother. Furthermore, people also commonly use self-defecating humor in a group. They put down or tease themselves for a mistake or a misfortunate. The book and other resources point out that this is healthy in a couple of different ways. Self-defecation allows you to avoid others teasing you first, a way to “save face” and recover from a mishap. It shows that you understand what happen was wrong in line with social norms of the ingroup. Furthermore; self-defecating humor can help people relate to others. If you are in a position of power or authority, this humor allows relate to people under you which helps everyone work and live better together.
The first article I looked at, “I'm Such a Moron - Self-Deprecating Humor Basics” it talked about Al Gore’s movie “Inconvenient Truth”. In the beginning of the movie, Gore wants to relate to the common American. Thus he makes a joke in about how he used to be the next president of the USA and the faulty election. Right away, the author writes, everyone listens and felts connected to him. Similarly I remember seeing Gore on SNL after the elections, making fun of the whole 2000 election; his fighting the result until the end and ultimately the misfortunate result for him. He got a lot of good press about that.
I think this is interesting phenomena, “evolutionary speaking”. Why is it that we naturally relate to people experiencing life misfortunates or bad luck. Why do we enjoy when people in power use self-defecating humor? Is it that we want to relieve the tension, or somehow we are more wired to connect to each other during bad times? Like ancestry, if there was bad weather or other problems, it was more adaptable for Homo sapiens to stick together? Whatever the case, I think that it is clear, that this humor allows us to deal with problems in a healthy way, helps us not take things too seriously or deal positively with a mistake.
However, from the past articles I read, self-defecating humor can be overdone, then as the book states it is considered self-defecting behavior. You are becoming the butt of jokes, an outkast or target for others. It just makes you feel alone, just a submember of the ingroup and your peers don’t see you as an equal. This is what happen to popular comedies, like Chris Farley, they felt alone and engaged in other self-destructive behavior.
All the comdianes mentioned in the book that use self-defecatin humor were male, it seems to cause them personal problem but they were still socially very well liked. On the other hand, what about women? How does self-defecating humor affect them personally and socially. I would argue it is a common idea that most women taking on powerful role within our society feel the need to prove themselves and are more concerned gaining respect in their roles then male. Thus, I would think they would use less self-defecating humor than males
In the article, “When self-deprecating humor doesn't work for you” written for the “Eloquent Woman” website, it supports just that idea. That there is a point, the article emphasis were self-defecation goes too far. Like if you start using it to “fish for compliments” or use to get attention. The article supports the idea that Self-decating humor can be used in the workplace, however if you use constantly use it as a defense- mechanism or a way to save face, you will not only start undermined your own abilities but others will too. It could make others focus only on your shortcomings.
Lastly, in my research a lot of articles talked about another social group of people that have been discriminated against and how they used self-defecating humor, Jewish people. In the article, “Is Jon Stewart the most important Jew in America?” from the Jewish Chronicle, they talk about what kind of humor Jon Stewart uses. “self-deprecating humor, well, that is Jewish humor.” Stewart makes fun of our country(our ingroup); our politics, our media to create humor. The article does on “It’s a deeply Jewish tactic: as the little guy unlikely to win over the masses with force or blunt persuasion, get your point across with humor.” I never really thought about the Daily Show and Colbert Report that why. I love their shows, but I have often wondered if they were democrats pointing fun at republicans or liberations making fun of our government. However,i guess they are simply pointing fun at themselves/ourselves. The ways were think or the ways which we did business as a country. Interesting take I thought on those shows and how self-defecating unites and defines groups
http://ezinearticles.com/?Im-Such-a-Moron---Self-Deprecating-Humor-Basics&id=385150
http://eloquentwoman.blogspot.com/2010/07/when-self-deprecating-humor-doesnt-work.html
http://thejewishchronicle.net/view/full_story/10162339/article-Is-Jon-Stewart-the-most-important-Jew-in-America-
What I have really come to find most interesting is our innate tendency to use humor. For example, we use humor to make social situations more comfortable and thus easier to communicate. Humor helps people relax and get to know another person. It can also communicate ideas a safe and comfortable way. We use humor and teasing to communicate limits or social boundaries to another, like a children or someone within your peer group. Similarly, the book stated that people who are the leaders or dominate in the group are more likely than others to use humor and teasing. This reminds me of studying juvenile apes using social play fighting as a way to communicate dominance or hierarchy without actually fighting. Furthermore, most of us use humor can help us humans cope with stress, or handle life difficulties.
In evolutionary psychology, we learned that human/Homo sapiens were able to survive better in groups. Thus I think humor was naturally selected for as a tool to facilitate living and working together without killing each other. This is why we all innately use humor as a healthy way to relieve tension or interact with eachother. Furthermore, people also commonly use self-defecating humor in a group. They put down or tease themselves for a mistake or a misfortunate. The book and other resources point out that this is healthy in a couple of different ways. Self-defecation allows you to avoid others teasing you first, a way to “save face” and recover from a mishap. It shows that you understand what happen was wrong in line with social norms of the ingroup. Furthermore; self-defecating humor can help people relate to others. If you are in a position of power or authority, this humor allows relate to people under you which helps everyone work and live better together.
The first article I looked at, “I'm Such a Moron - Self-Deprecating Humor Basics” it talked about Al Gore’s movie “Inconvenient Truth”. In the beginning of the movie, Gore wants to relate to the common American. Thus he makes a joke in about how he used to be the next president of the USA and the faulty election. Right away, the author writes, everyone listens and felts connected to him. Similarly I remember seeing Gore on SNL after the elections, making fun of the whole 2000 election; his fighting the result until the end and ultimately the misfortunate result for him. He got a lot of good press about that.
I think this is interesting phenomena, “evolutionary speaking”. Why is it that we naturally relate to people experiencing life misfortunates or bad luck. Why do we enjoy when people in power use self-defecating humor? Is it that we want to relieve the tension, or somehow we are more wired to connect to each other during bad times? Like ancestry, if there was bad weather or other problems, it was more adaptable for Homo sapiens to stick together? Whatever the case, I think that it is clear, that this humor allows us to deal with problems in a healthy way, helps us not take things too seriously or deal positively with a mistake.
However, from the past articles I read, self-defecating humor can be overdone, then as the book states it is considered self-defecting behavior. You are becoming the butt of jokes, an outkast or target for others. It just makes you feel alone, just a submember of the ingroup and your peers don’t see you as an equal. This is what happen to popular comedies, like Chris Farley, they felt alone and engaged in other self-destructive behavior.
All the comdianes mentioned in the book that use self-defecatin humor were male, it seems to cause them personal problem but they were still socially very well liked. On the other hand, what about women? How does self-defecating humor affect them personally and socially. I would argue it is a common idea that most women taking on powerful role within our society feel the need to prove themselves and are more concerned gaining respect in their roles then male. Thus, I would think they would use less self-defecating humor than males
In the article, “When self-deprecating humor doesn't work for you” written for the “Eloquent Woman” website, it supports just that idea. That there is a point, the article emphasis were self-defecation goes too far. Like if you start using it to “fish for compliments” or use to get attention. The article supports the idea that Self-decating humor can be used in the workplace, however if you use constantly use it as a defense- mechanism or a way to save face, you will not only start undermined your own abilities but others will too. It could make others focus only on your shortcomings.
Lastly, in my research a lot of articles talked about another social group of people that have been discriminated against and how they used self-defecating humor, Jewish people. In the article, “Is Jon Stewart the most important Jew in America?” from the Jewish Chronicle, they talk about what kind of humor Jon Stewart uses. “self-deprecating humor, well, that is Jewish humor.” Stewart makes fun of our country(our ingroup); our politics, our media to create humor. The article does on “It’s a deeply Jewish tactic: as the little guy unlikely to win over the masses with force or blunt persuasion, get your point across with humor.” I never really thought about the Daily Show and Colbert Report that why. I love their shows, but I have often wondered if they were democrats pointing fun at republicans or liberations making fun of our government. However,i guess they are simply pointing fun at themselves/ourselves. The ways were think or the ways which we did business as a country. Interesting take I thought on those shows and how self-defecating unites and defines groups
http://ezinearticles.com/?Im-Such-a-Moron---Self-Deprecating-Humor-Basics&id=385150
http://eloquentwoman.blogspot.com/2010/07/when-self-deprecating-humor-doesnt-work.html
http://thejewishchronicle.net/view/full_story/10162339/article-Is-Jon-Stewart-the-most-important-Jew-in-America-
My last couple of divergence blogs have been about British humor. The first one pointed out the differences between American and British humor, such as how’s irony is used differently in British humor and how there is a difference in the execution of jokes. Specifically, with British humor, it’s usually pretty understated, where with American humor, usually whether it’s someone telling a joke or in a TV show, you can usually tell when something is going to be funny, and when the intended funny event occurs, it’s obvious that it was intended to be humorous. I also did a blog examining the different themes that are often present in British humor, such as innuendos, the absurd, making fun of foreigners, macabre, class differences, disrespect to members of authority, and highly regarding or toleration of eccentric individuals. I used several clips from YouTube to demonstrate how each of these different themes are shown in British television shows. For this week’s blog, I am going to continue examining the differences in the two different types of humor.
Not surprisingly, there are different cultural values between Americans and the British. In America, we strongly value independence, equality, hard work, progress, and achievement. Ideally, people have individual rights which are upheld by the government and do not have face oppression because of their religion or what they say. The American dream encompasses these values, and if you as an individual work hard, we will progressively get closer to being wealthy, which is seen as the achievement in life. Those in the UK have some different ideals that unite them. They are more collective and like to be affiliated with others. Also, history is very important, and going along with this, they have strong traditions. Finally, as some of the British themes of humor suggest, they place importance on uniqueness and eccentricity.
A study done examining British and American beer commercials gave evidence that these different cultural values are present and even rooted in advertising. In British commercials, eccentricity was used in the majority of commercials and they also used showing traditions of British culture as a way to sell the beer. British commercials also we more likely to show a group of people drinking beer in a casual social situation, where everyone is the focus. American commercials, on the other hand, were much more likely to have one individual as the “main character” of the commercial and also used the technique that Americans work hard, and should reward themselves for their accomplishments by having a beer.
Another important factor that was examined in this beer commercial cross cultural study is how speech is used. Americans rely on a direct method of speech like commands, or factual, short statements, while those in the UK use a more indirect route, using more philosophical, metaphoric, humorous or story telling methods. This indirect method is also related to humor, because the study found when comparing the commercials, the British commercials were more likely to use humor to communicate the message, while humor in American ads was used more as something to remember the commercial by. In the commercials, British used humor in almost all the commercials, while American commercials used it a little less and also used sex or emotions to try and sell their product.
I think that these cultural values are also present in a lot of humor. For example, the different themes of British humor that I have explained in previous posts really are based on the three values of collectivism, history, and eccentricity. The themes of making fun of foreigners and the class system show that they see the world as an “us” versus “them” thing, and that if one person is similar to themselves, either by being British or by being a working class individual, they can easily poke fun at those who are different because they feel connected to those that they share some quality. Also, the disrespect for authority that is often seen in British comedy is another example of collectivism, because typically, authority figures, like law enforcement officials are seen as higher than average citizens, because they have privileges that others do not have. As we talked about in class, history is important and more British people would be more knowledgeable about historical events than is typical here. As we saw in a couple of the clips in class, history and tradition is brought up more often than we usually do in the United States, so it just happens in everyday life. Finally, the eccentricity that is valued in British culture is something very different from here in the US. In the US we kind of value, going along with the crowd and adhering to social norms. This is not the case I guess in the UK and their humor, and also other parts of their lives, such as advertising, use peculiar and eccentric ways to catch people’s attention or get a laugh. The themes of the absurd, the maniac, macabre, innuendos and toleration and admiration for the eccentric show a way that may not be a typical response to a stimulus, but is valued in the British culture. In the United States, consistent with our individualism, we often use humor to poke fun at someone or something as a way to make ourselves feel better or superior to them. We like to think we are independent and that when someone does something eccentric, it is funny because it is incongruent to how we act, but we don’t really value this person because they are eccentric, but because they make us feel more accomplished (at least in some sense) because we are comparing ourselves to them.
I thought it was very interesting that the British commercials used humor more than the American commercials did, but after reading the entire article, it’s understandable. I kind of relate eccentricity with humor, and in British commercials used eccentricity in almost all of their commercials. This might be because, according to the Incongruity theory, if people are eccentric, they are unique and might act in a way that is unusual or atypical for most people.
This adds to the other posts that I have done on British humor because it gives a closer look into why there are these differences between American and British humor. By looking at each cultures values, you can see that these values are present in what is found funny, and how people or advertisers use these values to create jokes or commercials. I think that when something like a joke or ad is consistent with a person’s values in some way, it is more relatable and would therefore be found more humorous.
http://us2uk.tripod.com/
http://find.galegroup.com.proxy.lib.uni.edu/gtx/infomark.do?Z3950=1&contentSet=IAC-Documents&docType=IAC&action=interpret&type=retrieve&searchType=BasicSearchForm&tabID=T001&docId=A18764041&prodId=AONE&source=library&userGroupName=uni_rodit&version=1.0
http://www.europeword.com/blog/europe/european-humor/
The chapter that I have been covering in the past couple of weeks is “Applications of Humor in Psychotherapy, Education, and the Workplace.” In one web divergence activity I talked about the uses of humor in psychotherapy. In another post I talked about the negative effects of using humor in the workplace. I didn’t say much about humor in education because I had covered it in a previous post but for this post I will expand on humor and education, specifically the findings in the relation of humor and learning and retention.
Results of studies vary. There have been some sources that say humor facilitate learning and retention and others that say humor does not aid learning. In an article by Peter Desberg et al. titled The Effect of Humor on Retention of Lecture Material, it was hypothesized that humor relating to the material to be learned would facilitate retention of the material better than unrelated humor. This was not found in the experiment. In this study, there were four groups of participants and four different versions of a lecture video. The differences in the videos were the types of humor they included. One video included humor directly related to the information being taught, another video included humor that did not relate to the topics, a third video had no humor and a fourth video had repetition of the topic to be learned. It was found that the humor questions were better retained by subjects who were presented the information in related humorous ways. With that being said, there were not differences between retention of information when comparing related humor to repetition.
If humor is going to be effective in any way, it has to be used in the proper way. It should be used to capture attention, not necessarily help students remember a certain topic. It should be used to help create an open classroom environment and can be associated with other helpful learning tools. It could be associated with mnemonic devices or a helpful saying or rhyme. Humor is also useful to help reduce stress in the classroom and help make learning fun. There is also the idea that since repetition is a strong learning and retention aid, humor related topics may be more unconsciously rehearsed in the student’s mind. I really couldn’t find much information on this but I believe humorous information is more rehearsed than non-humorous information. Also, there may just need to be a strong relevance to the listener of the humor used. It might just need to evoke strong emotions or be highly relatable. In accordance with the study mentioned, the humor used in a classroom setting must be closely tied to the material being discussed. Otherwise, it will not be helpful.
I expanded on this chapter because I didn’t really talk specifically about humor and learning before. On my post talking about education I didn’t really focus on how humor can help retention of information. What I found is that humor does not directly enhance retention but maybe the effects of humor (such as greater rehearsal for humorous information or evoking strong emotions or relevance) help retention of information.
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED223118&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED223118
http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~slm/AdjCI/Startclass/Humor.html
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8064254