DANGER, JOKING HAZARD: Humor, Norms, and Impression Management

Abstract

Reviewing psychological theories of humor identifies two oversights: (a) humor research has often ignored social factors, and (b) behavioral and cognitive measures are routinely conflated without justification. This paper tests the possibility that evaluations of funniness can be socially facilitated, but finds instead the opposite pattern. Eleven studies provide evidence that the presence of other people can dampen humor perception, likely due to impression management strategies that have questionable efficacy.