The Relation of Humor and Child Development: Social, Adaptive, and Emotional Aspects

Abstract

A sense of humor has been linked to social competence, popularity, and adaptability. The purpose of this review was to investigate the extant research in humor in childhood. Emerging work on the neuroanatomy of humor was discussed with findings of right hemispheric involvement for the comprehension and appreciation of humor for the affective network and the left hemisphere for cognitive understanding. These findings are intriguing when examining humor functioning in children with various disabilities, particularly the right hemisphere for children with autistic spectrum disorders or nonverbal learning disabilities. Examination of research in humor in childhood disabilities found most articles on humor in children with autistic spectrum disorder or mental retardation, with few to none in learning disabilities or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It was concluded that further study is needed to understand humor in children with disabilities and that such understanding will assist with interventions.

A Comparison of the Alexithymia, Self-compassion and Humour Characteristics of the Parents with Mentally Disabled and Autistic Children

“…Humour is also connected with many cognitive processes such as problem solving, memory, mental flexibility, abstract thinking, reasoning and imagination (Lyons and Fitzgerald 2004). In addition to its connection with the cognitive structure and learning, it is related to the individuals' maintenance of communication and sharing with the people around themselves (Semrud-Clikeman and Glass, 2010). For these reasons, it can be recommended that while designing the educational programs addressing to mentally disabled and autistic children, activities aiming to support families should be included, and training should be provided in order to boost families' awareness of self-compassion and humour…”

“…On the other hand, humour is another way of overcoming problems individuals encounter in their daily lives. Humour not only paves the way for the development of interpersonal relationships but also helps individuals to express stress in a reasonable way and to reduce the tension in general (Semrud-Clikeman and Glass, 2010). It also makes people approach problems optimistically and positively (Chinery, 2007).…”

Children's Laughter and Emotion Sharing With Peers and Adults in Preschool

“…One of the prominent theories of laughter associates laughter with incongruencies. This goes back to scholars like Aristotle, Kant and Schopenhauer, and many researchers on humor agree that “humor is related to either comprehending or producing an incongruity: the simultaneous occurrence of incompatible elements or sudden contradiction of expectations” (Semrud-Clikeman and Glass, 2010, p. 1). The incongruity principle, however, does not fully explain why “some incongruities seem humorous while others do not” (Glenn, 2003, p. 21).…”

Learning to be funny in Spanish during study abroad: L2 humor development

“…Research conducted in this vein has primarily focused on L2 use rather than development (e.g., Bell, , , ; Belz, ; Belz & Reinhardt, ; Davies, ; Morain, ; Pomerantz & Bell, , ). Although the development of humor in children learning their L1 has received attention (e.g., Cazden, ; McGhee, ; Semrud–Clikeman & Glass, ), Shardakova () is the only study thus far to examine development in an L2.…”