Humour
For example, young children may favour slapstick such as Punch and Judy puppet shows or cartoons such as Tom and Jerry or Looney Tunes, whose physical nature makes it accessible to them.
By contrast, more sophisticated forms of humour such as satire require an understanding of its social meaning and context, and thus tend to appeal to a more mature audience.
White once said, "Humor can be dissected as a frog can, but the thing dies in the process and the innards are discouraging to any but the pure scientific mind.
Additionally, humour was thought to include a combination of ridiculousness and wit in an individual; the paradigmatic case being Shakespeare's Sir John Falstaff.
Due to cultural differences, they disassociated comedy from Greek dramatic representation, and instead identified it with Arabic poetic themes and forms, such as hija (satirical poetry).
[11] Mento star Lord Flea, stated in a 1957 interview that he thought that: "West Indians have the best sense of humour in the world.
Even in the most solemn song, like Las Kean Fine ["Lost and Can Not Be Found"], which tells of a boiler explosion on a sugar plantation that killed several of the workers, their natural wit and humour shine though.
[15] Joke books containing a mix of wordplay, puns, situational humour, and play with taboo subjects like sex and scatology, remained popular over the centuries.
Local performing arts, storytelling, vernacular fiction, and poetry offer a wide variety of humorous styles and sensibilities.
Famous Chinese humourists include the ancient jesters Chunyu Kun and Dongfang Shuo; writers of the Ming and Qing dynasties such as Feng Menglong, Li Yu,[16] and Wu Jingzi; and modern comic writers such as Lu Xun, Lin Yutang, Lao She, Qian Zhongshu, Wang Xiaobo, and Wang Shuo, and performers such as Ge You, Guo Degang, and Zhou Libo.
[21] Social liberalisation in the 1980s, commercialisation of the cultural market in the 1990s, and the advent of the internet have each—despite an invasive state-sponsored censorship apparatus—enabled new forms of humour to flourish in China in recent decades.
In the mid-20th century, a majority of American college students report that having a sense of humour is a crucial characteristic looked for in a romantic partner.
[26] Recent research suggests expressions of humour in relation to physical attractiveness are two major factors in the desire for future interaction.
[23] Women regard physical attractiveness less highly compared to men when it came to dating, a serious relationship, and sexual intercourse.
When women were given the forced-choice design in the study, they chose funny men as potential relationship partners even though they rated them as being less honest and intelligent.
Studies conducted in East Asia find humour ranked lower among other traits than in western cultures, especially by men evaluating women.
[33] In contrast, maladaptive humour types (aggressive and self-defeating) are associated with poorer overall psychological wellbeing,[37] emphasis on higher levels of anxiety and depression.
[42] Humour is a ubiquitous, highly ingrained, and largely meaningful aspect of human experience and is therefore decidedly relevant in organisational contexts, such as the workplace.
[43] The significant role that laughter and fun play in organisational life has been seen as a sociological phenomenon and has increasingly been recognised as also creating a sense of involvement and possible comradery among workers.
[44] Sharing humour at work not only offers a relief from boredom, but can also build relationships, improve camaraderie between colleagues and create positive affect.
[43] Sharing a laugh with a few colleagues may improve moods, which is pleasurable, and people perceive this as positively affecting their ability to cope.
[43] Fun and enjoyment are critical in people's lives and the ability for colleagues to be able to laugh during work, through banter or other, promotes harmony and a sense of cohesiveness.
[43] The attachment to the notion of fun by contemporary companies has resulted in workplace management coming to recognise the potentially positive effects of "workplay" and realise that it does not necessarily undermine workers' performance.
[44] Others examined results of this movement while focusing around the science of happiness—concerned with mental health, motivation, community building and national well-being—and drew attention to the ability to achieve "flow" through playfulness and stimulate "outside the box" thinking.
[44] Parallel to this movement is the "positive" scholarship that has emerged in psychology which seeks to empirically theorise the optimisation of human potential.
[44] This happiness movement suggests that investing in fun at the workplace, by allowing for laughter and play, will not only create enjoyment and a greater sense of well-being, but it will also enhance energy, performance and commitment in workers.
[48]: 403 This study showed that laughter can be correlated with both positive (joy and tickle) and negative (schadenfreude and taunt) emotions with varying degrees of arousal in the subject.
[citation needed] Humour is an underlying character trait associated with the positive emotions used in the broaden-and-build theory of cognitive development.
In an article published in Nature Reviews Neuroscience, it is reported that a study's results indicate that humour is rooted in the frontal lobe of the cerebral cortex.
For example, a 2004 BBC News article discusses a stereotype among British comedians that Americans and Germans do not understand irony, and therefore UK sitcoms are not appreciated by them.
