The role of humor in human The role of humor in human relationships: relationships:

An evolutionary modelAn evolutionary model

Tisljár Roland1 , Sefcsik Tamás1, Bereczkei Tamás2

1University of Szeged, Institute of Psychology2 University of Pécs, Institute of Psychology

8th Alps-Adria Psychology ConferenceLjubljana, 2008.

OutlineOutline

• Theoretical background– Evolutionary theories of humor– Humor as the product of sexual selection– Role of similarity in human relationships

• Method

• Results

• Discussion

Evolved basis of humorEvolved basis of humor

• Laughing and humor are universal (Buss, 1989)

• Unvoluntary, reflex-like reaction (Weisfeld, 1993)

– Similar to our basic emotions (Martin, 2007)

Evolutionary theories of humor 1.Evolutionary theories of humor 1.

• Humor and laughter are likely originated in social play (van Hoof and Preuschoft, 2003)

– Facilitating the development of various adaptive skills (Bateson, 2005)

• Playfully practice important skills (Weisfeld, 1993)– In a non-threatening context– Social cognition, interpersonal

behavior

Evolutionary theories of humor 2.Evolutionary theories of humor 2.

• Vocal grooming (Dunbar, 1996)– Facilitates social bonding

• Emotion-induction mechanism (Gervais and Wilson, 2005)– Faster way of becoming playful during

times of safety– Competitive advantage over other groups

• Creativity is the most important part of humor (Miller, 2000)– Rather than its agressiveness– Sexual selection play a major role in its

evolution

Humor and the mate choice Humor and the mate choice processprocess

• Humor is a highly valued social trait (Apte, 1987; Feingold, 1992)

– One of the ten most desirable characteristics (Buss, 1989)

• Friendships, relation partners (Joeyen-Waldorf, 2003)

Testing Miller’s theoryTesting Miller’s theory

• Bressler and Balshine (2006)

– Women prefer men with a good sense of humor

– Men’s preference is not influenced by this characteristics

• Bressler, Martin and Balshine (2006)– Different ideas of the sexes about what the desirable sense of

humor is

• Women – Someone who makes them laugh

• Men – Someone who laughs at their jokes

Homogamy and mate choiceHomogamy and mate choice

• People tend to choose mates on the basis of similarity (Bereczkei and Csanaky, 1996)

– Race, socioeconomic status, age, intellectual ability, personality variables (Bereczkei, Vörös, Gál and Bernáth, 1997)

– Married couples are more genetically similar than randomly paired individuals (Buunk and Fries, 1997)

HypothesisHypothesis

• Humor works as a matching device in the beginning of the relationship

– Honest information about the prospective partner’s mind

– We choose our partner on the basis of similarity

• How similarly our minds work

MethodMethod• Participants

– 38 couples (mean age=22,7, SD=4,5)

• Procedures– Humor Style Questionnaire (HSQ) (Martin et al.,

2003)• Four dimensions:

– Affiliative humor (+)– Self-enhancing humor (+)– Agressive humor (-)– Self-defeating humor (-)

– Romantic relationship-satisfaction questionnaire (RSQ) (self-produced)

Items from the Humor Styles Items from the Humor Styles Questionnaire measureQuestionnaire measure

• Affiliative humor– „I don’t have to work very hard at making other people laugh – I

seem to be a naturally humorous person.”

• Self-enhancing humor– „If I am feeling depressed, I can usually cheer myself up with

humor.”

• Aggresive humor – „If I don’t like someone, I often use humor or teasing to put them

down.”

• Self-defeating humor– „I let people laugh at me or make fun at my expense more than I

should.”

Items from the Relationship Items from the Relationship Satisfaction QuestionnaireSatisfaction Questionnaire

• „How many time has elapsed from the beginning of this relationship?”

• „How many time has elapsed between your acquaintance and the beginning of this relationship?”

• „How much are you satisfied with this relationship?” (1-5 Likert scale)

• „Will you be together in a year’s time (if it is depends on you)?”

ResultsResults

Gender differences within couples: Gender differences within couples: HSQ dimensions mean scoresHSQ dimensions mean scores

25

30

35

40

45

50

Affiliative humor

Self-enhancing humor

Aggressive humor

Self-defeating humor

HS

Q m

ean

sco

res Male partner

Female partner

n.s.

*

n.s.

n.s.

Correlations between the HSQ Correlations between the HSQ dimensions and the Relationships dimensions and the Relationships

satisfaction itemssatisfaction itemsAffiliative

humorSelf-enhancing

humorAggressive humor

Self-defeating humor

Conflict with the Conflict with the partner’s emotional partner’s emotional

closedness closedness

**(r=-0,24; p=0,001)

Problem-solving with Problem-solving with the use of humorthe use of humor

**(r=0,44; p=0,00)

Conflict with the Conflict with the partner’s alcohol or partner’s alcohol or

drug using drug using

*(r=0,33; p=0,005)

Time elapsed between Time elapsed between the first meeting and the first meeting and the beginning of the the beginning of the

relationshiprelationship

.

**(r=0,30; p=0,01)

DiscussionDiscussion

• High similarity in the couples humor styles

• Humor may work as a matching device in the beginning of the relationships

• Typical humor style can also shows a tendency to hide our true self

I’d like to thank toI’d like to thank to• Rod. A. Martin

• László Séra • Péter Vukov

• Bernadett Bodor • Zsófia Kapás

• Mónika Krizsán • Márta Pápai

• Szilvia Polgár • Kamilla Polyák • Orsolya Szabó

• Karolina Janacsek • Dezső Németh

Thank you for your attention!Thank you for your attention!

• http://www.evolutionpsychology.com/

• tisljar@gmail.com