Development of Humor

A sense of humor is believed to be important for healthy development, socially and emotionally. Many theorists have suggested that humor serves a social function, including enhancing relationships, increasing or maintaining group cohesion, relieving tension, saving face, and expressing aggression in a socially acceptable way. When humor is used appropriately it improves communication, provides an enjoyable interaction, and leads to further social experiences. Humor can also be used to express [Page 198]views that are otherwise difficult to communicate. This entry discusses how children develop a sense of humor, how disabilities influence individuals' understanding of humor, how humor affects health and coping with illness, and the regions of the brain that are involved in humor.

For children, humor is developed over time and elaborated during adolescence and through adulthood. Cognitive development enhances the experience of humor. Humor styles change with age and humor that an infant responds to, such as peekaboo, a 3-year-old will find tedious. Similarly, there is an evolution in humor with age as preferences change. Generally, young children prefer overt slapstick comedy, while older children enjoy puns, and adolescents and adults like jokes that have an unexpected ending.

In addition to the social aspects, cognitive aspects of humor are hypothesized to be related to either comprehending or producing an incongruity—this incongruity is the pairing of incompatible elements or a departure from what was expected. Incongruity is accepted by most researchers as the main definition of humor and involves a violation of intention, convention, or fact. Elena Hoicka, Sarah Justsum, and Merideth Gattis (2008) state that generally two cognitive phases are involved in humor appreciation: perception and identification of an incongruity and then the attempt to reduce or resolve the incongruity.