To be humorous or not?: Different views from the East and the West

1. To be humorous or not?: Different views from the East and the West Feng Jiang City University of Hong Kong fenjiang@cityu.edu.hk 26 Feb, 2011

2. What is Humor?

3. Function of Humor • Improves our health condition (Fry, 1994; Hubert, et al., 1993; Kuiper, et al., 1993) • Enhance our cognitive and emotional responses (Martin, 2001; 2007)

4. Cross-cultural comparison • Chinese undergraduates use less humor to cope with stress than their Canadian counterparts (Chen & Martin, 2005) • Chinese undergraduates thought themselves as being less humorous than American undergraduates (Liao, 2001) • For “good sense of humor”, • Chinese : “aggression-disruption.” • Canadian: “sociability-leadership” (Chen, Rubin, & Sun, 1992).

5. Question • Is this behavioral difference due to their different attitudes toward humor?

6. However… • More recent attitudinal surveys showed: • Chinese people value humor very much (Hao, Yue, Qi, & Lan, 2007; Hao, Yue, Qi, & Qin, 2007; Yue, 2008; 2009).

7. These surveys did not involve cross-cultural comparison directly. • They focused on explicit attitude toward humor only.

8. Views on humor • Chinese • Taoism • Values humor as an attempt of having witty, peaceful and harmonious interaction with the nature (Liao, 2001; Yao, 1989; Yue, 2008; 2009) Zhuangzi Laozi

9. Chinese • Buddhism • Encourages humor as a symbol of lighting up.(Hyers, 1989; Yue,2008)

10. Chinese • Confucianism • Emphasize social hierarchy and interpersonal relatedness. (Bond, 1996) • Ren (moral principle) • Junzi (the person who obey moral principle)

11. American • Plato & Aristotle: • Natural and pure-hearted expression • A part of their personality (Mindess, et al., 1985) • A positive characteristic of creativity (Sternberg, 1985)

12. “Humor is ubiquitous in American society and nothing escapes from becoming its target. Humor in its numerous techniques and forms is directed at the population through all conceivable channels – newsprint, magazines, books, visual and plastic arts, comedy performances, and amateur joke-telling contests, as well as many types of artifacts such as T-shirts, watches, bumper stickers, greeting cards, sculptures, toys, and so forth” (Apte, 1987)

13. Hypotheses • Implicit attitude • Chinese: negative • American: positive • Explicit attitude • No difference between China and America

14. Methods • Participants • 53 Chinese undergraduates • 33 American undergraduates • Measures • Implicit Association Test (IAT) measures • Questionnaires measures

15. Word materials Target words: humor vs. seriousness Attribute words: pleasant vs. unpleasant

16. Logic of IAT • It assesses implicit attitudes by having people rapidly categorize stimulus words using two response key. • Shorter reaction time suggests the stronger connection between two concepts (e.g., “humor and pleasant”)

19. Implicit attitudes • IAT effect Chinese:t(52)=6.82, p<0.001 Americans:t(32)=6.36, p<0.001

20. Explicit attitude • Explicit attitude toward humor • No significant difference (t=1.75, p=.084, ns)

21. Conclusion • Appreciation of Humor (Both American and Chinese Explicit Attitudes) • Deprivation-based preferences • Globalization • Devaluation of Humor (Chinese Implicit Attitude Only)

22. Future directions • Is it the same pattern in public and private settings? • Whether jokes or humor are socially less desirable in East Asian than in American culture? If it is, how? • How might the these norms be changing with time and exposure to Western media in the process of globalization?

23. Thank you!