Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness throughout the world.

Special Treat – Kathryn Esplin-Oleski

August 16, 2006

Humor – Your Style, My Style – Whose Style?

Kathryn Esplin-Oleski

An article in August's Psychology Today (PT) talks about styles of humor.  Based on University of Western Ontario psychologist Rod Martin's studies on humor, PT presented a review of Martin's findings.

You may find your favorite brand of humor among these types: Put-down humor; Bonding humor;  Hate-me humor; Laughing at life humor.

Psychology Today lists Ann Coulter as the current prime example of someone who uses Put-down humor, as a socially acceptable way for the joke teller to be aggressive and to make others look bad while the joke teller looks good.  When challenged, the joke teller often simply states, "just kidding," thereby avoiding responsibility for the pointed humor.

PT lists Ellen Degeneres as one who uses Bonding humor.  According to PT, Degeneres' humor finds common ground among the participants, as if to say, "We're all alike, we're in this together."

PT also notes that this type of humor can have a dark side, too, and gives as an example, the humor of JFK and his brothers who would often invite someone they mutually disliked to their dinner table. In the presence of the disliked guest, they all would be polite; once the guest left, the Kennedy brothers would unite in making the guest the butt of bad jokes.

PT lists the humor of  the late Chris Farley  as 'hate-me humor', in which the joke teller offers oneself up for others to be amuse themselves. Farley, suffering from a strong streak of self-loathing, freely offered himself up to such ingratiating routines beloved of SNL (Saturday Night Live) fans.

PT warns that such ingratiating humor can leads to loss of self-respect, and can contribute to anxiety and depression. Other people also feel uncomfortable, in that they are reminded of their own self-criticism.

PT quotes a letter Farley's brother wrote after Chris' death: "Christ chose the immediate pleasure he got in pleasing others over the long-term cost to himself."

Columnist Dave Barry, uses what Martin calls "laughing at life" humor, of someone who does not take himself too seriously, but tends to color the world in rosy shades, pointing out absurdities in daily life we can all share.

Stating that "The Onion" is a good example of this kind of humor, PT also quotes Barry in a quip: "Fishing is boring, unless you catch an actual fish, and then it is disgusting."

Adapted from psychologist Rod Martin's Humor Styles Questionnaire, PT provides this 16 response questionnaire.

1. "If someone makes a mistake, I will often tease them about it.
2. I let people laugh at me or make fun at my expense more than I should.
3. I don't have to work very hard at making other people laugh – I seem to be a naturally humorous person.
4. Even when I'm by myself, I'm amused by the absurdities in life.
5. People are never offended or hurt by my sense of humor.
6. I rarely make other people laugh by telling funny stories about myself.
7. My humorous outlook keeps me from getting overly upset or depressed about things.
8. If I'm by myself and I'm feeling unhappy, I think of something funny to cheer myself up.
9. Sometimes I can't stop myself from saying something funny, even if it isn't appropriate.
10. I enjoy making people laugh.
11. If I am feeling upset, I usually lose my sense of humor.
12. When I am with friends or family, I am often the one whom other people joke about.
13. If I am having problems or feeling unhappy, I often cover it up by joking around so that even my closest friends don't know how I really feel.
14. I usually can't think of witty things to say when I'm with other people.
15. Even if something is really funny, I won't joke about it if someone will be offended.
16. Letting others laugh at me is my way of keeping them in good spirits."

PT suggests scoring, using the following:

"1 (totally disagree) 

2 (moderately disagree)

3 (slightly disagree) 

4  (neither agree or disagree)

5 (slightly agree) 

6 ( moderately agree)

7 ( totally agree) "

For 'put-down humor,' start with number 14 and ADD your answer for Q 1 and 9; SUBTRACT your answers to Q 5 and 15.

For 'bonding humor,' start with number 7 and ADD your answer for Q 3 and 10, then SUBTRACT your answer to Q 6 and 14.

For 'hate-me-humor,' ADD your answers to Q 2,12, 13 and 16.

For 'laughing at life' humor, start with number 3 and ADD your answer to Q 4,7 and 8, then SUBTRACT your answer to Q 11.

For results: If you scored above 17 in any category, you would be considered HIGH in that category; if you scored  between 11 and 17 in any category, you would be considered AVERAGE in that category; if you scored lower than 11 in any category, you would be considered LOW in that category.

Look at your HIGH number as indicative of how you use humor on a regular basis.