Humor creation during efforts to find humorous cognitive reappraisals of threatening situations

Abstract

This interdisciplinary study examined the structure of humor creation in the specific context of efforts to positively reappraise stressful situations for effective coping. In a sample of n = 101 participants, a performance test was used to assess the quantity (fluency, number of generated ideas that qualified as humor) and quality (rated funniness) of humor creation in cognitive reappraisal. Linguistic mechanisms were identified and quantified using cognitive-linguistic methods of corpus analysis, and their employment was correlated with humor production performance on the level of the individual. Almost all individuals were able to come up with reappraisal ideas that qualified as humorous. Depressive symptoms, a negative mood state, and high perceptions of threat did not compromise the participants' capability to create humor. Individuals who were more serious-minded as a trait produced ideas that were rated as less funny, but their basic ability to create humor was unaffected. Metonymy (a contiguity-based principle of meaning extension) emerged as by far the most prominent semantic mechanism in the creation of humorous re-interpretations. Furthermore, its use was related to good humor creation performance in terms of quantity and quality, which is in line with its assumed importance in the extension of meaning in general and the creation of humor in particular. Further effective linguistic mechanisms and conceptual phenomena were identified. The empirical data may be valuable for the development of interventions involving the creation of humorous ideas for cognitive reappraisal.

Adolescents’ Exposure to and Experiences of Weight Stigma During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Supporting narrative accounts of an upsurge in weight stigma on social media platforms during the pandemic ( Flint, 2020 ; Pearl, 2020 ), we found that the majority of our adolescent sample (53%) indicated increased exposure to some form of weight stigmatizing content on social media (i.e., weight gain memes and/or stress eating jokes). While joking can function as an effective tool to positively reappraise stressful situations ( Papousek et al, 2019 ), it is important that individuals are encouraged to utilize strategies to cope with pandemic-related challenges and stress that do not imply personal responsibility and blame for body weight. Even if adolescents do not feel directly targeted by derogatory memes and jokes about obesity, climates of heightened weight stigma can be negatively impactful for all youth who are exposed ( Lessard & Juvonen, 2020 ).…”

Patient-to-Patient Interactions During the Pain Management Programme: The Role of Humor and Venting in Building a Socially Supportive Community

“…This shows that group interactions in the PMP setting are building pain coping, as has also been shown in chronic pain support groups ( 41 ). Yet, the venting and the humor which concludes the vent cycle are not a distraction away from pain, posited as a primary theoretical explanation for the benefits of humor in pain management ( 40 ), nor are they methods of promoting cognitive reappraisal of pain ( 49 ). Instead, the venting cycle, is further evidence of the power of social support to improve pain coping and pain management ( 50 ).…”

Doing Humor, Seriously!: Conflict Management of Mother and Child through the Humor in the Stories of Lupus Kecil

“…The previous study indicates humor facilitates the improvement of social relations (Yue, Liu & Hiranandani, 2014), create a pleasant experience ( Jeder, 2015), and enhance the quality of life of a person, (Papousek, 2018). The essential ability for someone to be humorous not affected even though a person is in a threatened situation (Papousek, 2019), humor facilitating the better relation of parents and children (Forward, et al 2008), and serving relational comfort of parents and children in the family context (Neuendorf et al 2015). Most studies in humor only focused on how humor could enhance and improve the quality of human life.…”