There are multiple factors, such as culture, age, and political orientation, that play a role in determining what people find humorous.
[1] Although humor styles can be somewhat variable depending on social context, they tend to be a relatively stable personality characteristic among individuals.
[2] Humor can play an instrumental role in the formation of social bonds, enabling people to relate to peers or to attract a mate, and can help to release tension during periods of stress.
Justifications for harmful versus benign humor styles are subjective and lead to varying definitions of either usage.
[4] The combination of these factors creates four distinct humor styles: self-enhancing, affiliative, aggressive, and self-defeating.
[6] The original Sense of Humor Questionnaire was 22 items broken into three categories that could be answered on a scale of 1-4.
The Sense of Humor Questionnaire was revised and included items on each sub-scale that evaluate more in-depth of each group.
The Coping Humor Scale was created by Rod A. Martin, Fazal Mittu and Herbert M. Lefcourt in 1983.
The Situational Humor Response Questionnaire was tested on almost 500 participants in four groups and has alpha coefficients from .70 to .83.
The combination of these factors creates four distinct humor styles: affiliative, self-enhancing, aggressive, and self-defeating.
While most of the styles tested reasonably well, the aggressive humor scale produced the lowest internal consistency values.
Individuals high in this dimension often use humor as a way to charm and amuse others, ease tension among others, and improve relationships.
They are often spontaneous in their joke telling, frequently participate in witty banter, and enjoy laughing with others.
Individuals who report high levels of affiliative humor are more likely to initiate friendships and less likely to become victims of bullying.
[14][15] In an organizational setting, affiliative humor has been shown to increase group cohesiveness and promote creativity in the workplace.
[16] Affiliative humor is also associated with increased levels of (explicit) self-esteem, psychological well-being, emotional stability, and social intimacy.
Individuals who use affiliative humor tend to have higher levels of extraversion and openness to experience as personality characteristics.
[19] Self-enhancing humor is associated with a number of personality variables as well as psychological, physical and health-related outcomes.
[18] In an organizational setting, self-enhancing humor has been shown to promote creativity and reduce stress in the workplace.
This type of humor may at times seem like playful fun, but sometimes the underlying intent is to harm or belittle others.