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The Perceived Funniness of Humorous Stimuli

University of Western Ontario

Neal J. Roese

Northwestern University

The authors tested the logic that perceivers infer the emotion-eliciting qualities of stimuli from (a) their emotional reactions and (b) information about environmental factors. A total of l50 men and women listened to a humorous monologue. Some subjects were instructed before listening to the monologue to inhibit their mirth; other subjects were told after listening to the monologue that the laboratory setting inhibits mirth; and control subjects were given no special instructions. Subjects who were instructed to inhibit their mirth smiled and laughed less often than control subjects, but their ratings of the monologue's funniness were similar to those of control subjects. Subjects who were told that the laboratory setting inhibited mirth smiled and laughed the same as control subjects, but they rated the monologue as funnier than did control subjects (an augmentation effect).

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