Humor Styles

Humor style refers to a person's habitual conduct or use of humor in daily life, that is, his or her typical and stable pattern of humor behaviors and attitudes. Humor style is related but distinct from other aspects of the sense of humor, including appreciation of different kinds of humor created by others; temperamental traits such as cheerfulness, seriousness, and bad mood that underlie the sense of humor; and humor skills, or the level of ability when producing humor. It is also important to differentiate psychological humor styles from literal styles of comedy as forms of genre. The latter include forms such as high comedy of manners, parody, or farce, which can also have particular humor “flavors.” This entry focuses on personal humor styles, that ...