This research investigates the impacts of humor as a communication strategy for teachers in the context of university English learning. The study employs a mixed-methods approach utilizing questionnaires and interviews. The primary aim is to explore the effects of incorporating humor into the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom. A…

This study replicated and extended Wanzer, Frymier, Wojtaszczyk, and Smith's (2006) preliminary typology of appropriate and inappropriate teacher humor and advanced three explanations for differences in interpretations of teacher humor. Students were more likely to view teacher humor as inappropriate when it was perceived as offensive and when it…

Two experiments were conducted examining the mood altering effects of humor and the moderating effect of laughter on both humor appreciation and mood. The mood of the subjects in the first experiment was manipulated to make them feel slightly elated or slightly depressed. They then listened to either comedy routines or an interview. The comedy…

Although the role of humor in relaxation and interpersonal relationships is well documented, its role in increasing performance in the classroom has not been systematically studied. To investigate the effect of appropriately timed humor on performance of a stressful task, 40 college students performed a mathematics test under one of four…

Freudian theory and subsequent research indicates a connection between sexual and aggressive motivation. The present study investigated preferences among nonsexual, sexual, and aggressive humor as a function of induced aggressive mood. One-hundred and twenty male and 120 female university students participated in one of four 2x2 factorial designs…

Intuitively, it would seem that moral development and aggressive humor address many of the same issues in that both are concerned with judgments about interpersonal conflict and inequality of exchange. This study examined the relation between level of moral development and appreciation of aggressive humor. Community college students (N=190) were…

Previous research has suggested that behavioral differences between shy and not shy persons may be explained by differences in inhibition rather than differences in interpersonal skills. To investigate the behavior of high and low social anxiety subjects in both ambiguous social situations and in explicitly structured ones, three studies using…

In a study of satire as persuasion, two experiments were conducted--one to determine whether dogmatism affected the understanding and appreciation of editorial satire, the second to determine the same about intelligence as measured by the Scholastic Aptitude Test. In the first experiment, 116 college students read three satirical editorials. After…

In order to test the hypothesis that dogmatism is related to the understanding and appreciation of editorial satires, 116 University of Georgia speech students read and reacted to three editorial satires (two by Art Hoppe and one by Art Buchwald) arranged in booklets in three different orders. Students were asked to choose from a list of five…

Tested Freud's theory that sexist humor may be associated with hostility toward women. The humor of 10 sexist jokes was rated by 399 college students. Enjoyment of sexist humor was positively correlated with rape-related attitudes and beliefs, the self-reported likelihood of forcing sex, and psychological, physical, and sexual aggression in men.…

In the first of two experiments designed to determine whether the use of humor would enhance audience reactions to a speaker without damaging that speaker's ethos (character and authoritativeness), 98 university students were randomly assigned to read one of four versions of the speech, "Why I Chose Psychology." The subjects read…

Although humor is an important phenomenon in human interactions, it has rarely been studied in the elderly. An understanding of responses to humor in aggressive cartoons as a function of advancing age would provide information regarding both the development of humor and the negative (aggressive) emotional experiences of the elderly. This study was…

In an effort to understand why pictures are used to supplement learning material, a study explored (1) the role of humor in recall, and (2) whether the effects of humor are independent of the individual's ability level. Subjects--students from either the high SAT (approximate average of 1200 points) population (HS), or the low SAT (approximate…

Although emotions have been widely studied, researchers have rarely focused on the elderly. Consequently, many questions remain unanswered concerning the emotions of older adults. This study examined age differences in emotional intensity of short- and long-term emotion. Older adults (N=61) and younger adult college students (N=93) completed the…

It was hypothesized that a visual strategy that incorporates a humorous theme and cartoons with humorous comments relevant to the content helps motivate students to focus on and retain computer-based instructional material. An experiment to assess this hypothesis was undertaken with 43 college students who received a humorous presentation on…