Psychoanalytic theory predicts that humor preference is a derivative of unresolved childhood conflicts. Analyzed students' (N=104) Rorschach protocols to yield measures of preoedipal fixation. Students ranked jokes from most to least funny. Results showed that the ranking of jokes was a function of the fixation measures for women only. (Author/RC)

Appreciation of cartoon humor was examined among college students categorized on the basis of Bem's Sex Role Inventory. Males preferred sexual humor to absurd humor, while females favored absurd humor. An antifemale bias in humor appreciation was found in masculine, feminine, and undifferentiated males and in masculine and androgynous females.…

Assessed male (N=60) and female (N=60) responses to pictorial humorous sexual material in relationship to degree of sexual expression and personal satisfaction with sexual behavior. Results showed persons with active and satisfying sexual expression enjoyed sexually explicit cartoons and showed less preference for aggressive themes. (LLL)

Investigated humor response to aggressive cartoons using ratings of pain and funniness of cartoons by college students (n=93) and older adults (n=61). Found no significant age differences; however, sex differences were found. Females exhibited an inverted-U relationship between pain ratings and funniness ratings. For males there was no…

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…

Examined the impact of humowere aous sexual stimuli on 120 college students. Results showed the importance of personal sexual experience and enjoyment with sexual expression on the reactions to sexual humor. Sexist ideas within sexual humor were significant factor in influencing female appreciation of sexual jokes. (JAC)

Administered Multidimensional Sense of Humor Scale and Edwards Personal Preference Schedule to 426 adults, aged 18 through 90. Findings suggest that men create humor more, although women used more coping humor. As age increased, so did humor creativity, coping humor, and humor appreciation. Those who sought to create humor appeared to have need…

Manipulated speaker sex and "sick" jokes/no-jokes in printed speeches are evaluated by college students. "Sick" jokes generally resulted in negative evaluations of both speech and speaker; "sick" jokes may be enjoyed in certain social situations but should probably be left out of formal speeches. (PD)

Investigated reactions to humorous feminist slogans in these groups: (1) males and females (N=20) over 30 years old who were feminists or strongly sympathetic; (2) female and male undergraduates (N=39) with various levels of sympathy; and (3) 6th, 8th, and 10th grade academically gifted students (N=62). Results suggest gender and feminist sympathy…

This study did not support the following hypothesis: more sexually-oriented jokes will reflect a sexist bias against women than against men. Instead, the findings indicate that joke-tellers of both sexes were more likely to select sexual jokes that discriminated against males. (PD)

High- and low-creative male and female college students were asked to devise humorous captions to cartoons containing sexual, aggressive, or neutral themes. Results indicate that males generated funnier captions than females to sexual and aggressive stimuli but not to neutral stimuli. Moreover, creativity was positively related to humor…

Examines college appreciation of sexual humor. Results show that as sexual content increases in explicitness male appreciation significantly increases in a linear type progression. Females demonstrate greatest appreciation for the most sexually explicit cartoons. Results reflect relaxation of traditional sex role restraints among college females.…

Assuming superiority is a function of sex-role, it was hypothesized that "masculines" would prefer aggressive humor against females more than would "androgeneous" or "feminine" subjects. However, results indicated that sex, rather than sex-role, affected preference for humor directed against members of the opposite…