Sexual Desire and the Dissipation of Anger Arousal Through Humor Appreciation; Gender and Content Issues

Abstract

Previous empirical investigations have shown that an individuals approach to sexual activity and fantasy is related to the level of sexual desire. The appreciation of humor with sexual or aggressive content can be influenced by a state of sexual or aggression arousal which can then be influenced by enjoying those forms of humor. This study examined the effects of presenting humor with either sexual, aggressive or neutral content to angered and non-angered males (N = 180) and females (N = 180) who were differentiated for their level of sexual desire. High sexual desire subjects showed greatest enjoyment of sexual humor, but males showed the highest levels of appreciating aggressive humor. The high sexual desire subjects were able to diminish their anger through appreciation of either sexual or aggressive humor content.

Gender effects on consumers’ attitudes toward comedic violence in advertisements

“…In the context of comedic violence, prior studies have shown that sex differences in humorous violence preferences are fixed in childhood, with boys more likely than girls to initiate humor involving aggression and malice, and girls more likely to prefer humor based on incongruity and surprise (Groch, 1974). These biological-sex differences in humor preferences persisted into adulthood, with men showing greater preferences than women for humor involving malice (Prerost, 1995;Unger, 1996) or sexual innuendo (Groch, 1974). Recent studies (e.g., Swani et al, 2013) confirmed that men tended to prefer humor with violent content more than women did.…”

Dyad to triad: A longitudinal analysis of humor and pregnancy intention during the transition to parenthood

“…The broader literature on aggressive humor, however, has mixed findings, especially with respect to men’s level of satisfaction. Prior work indicates that men tend to engage in aggressive humor more (Martin et al, 2003) and appreciate and prefer hostile forms of humor (Crawford & Gressly, 1991; Prerost, 1995). Men, therefore, may view aggressive humor as more normative and perhaps more similar to affiliative humor than women do and, in certain contexts, it might be perceived as one way to express affection or closeness (Prerost, 1995).…”

“…Prior work indicates that men tend to engage in aggressive humor more (Martin et al, 2003) and appreciate and prefer hostile forms of humor (Crawford & Gressly, 1991; Prerost, 1995). Men, therefore, may view aggressive humor as more normative and perhaps more similar to affiliative humor than women do and, in certain contexts, it might be perceived as one way to express affection or closeness (Prerost, 1995). Indeed, Dyck and Holtzman (2013) found that the expression of aggressive humor was related to more perceived social support among men.…”

“…In addition, aggressive humor is positively correlated with hostility and neuroticism (Martin, 2007). Despite its overall negative effects, some research has found that aggressive humor is at times beneficial when enacted by men (but not by women; Dyck & Holtzman, 2013; Prerost, 1995). In general, men tend to be more verbally aggressive than women (Archer, 2004), and men both engage in (Martin et al, 2003) and appreciate more aggressive forms of humor than most women (Crawford & Gressley, 1991).…”