The influence of arousal and positive affect on humor perception and response.
Item
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Title
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The influence of arousal and positive affect on humor perception and response.
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Identifier
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AAI9130381
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identifier
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9130381
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Creator
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Tierney, William Boyd.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Howard Ehrlichman
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Date
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1991
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Personality | Psychology, Social | Psychology, General
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Abstract
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The purpose of this study was to explore the differential contributions of positive affect (PA) and arousal toward the various components of humor perception: getting the joke, appraising its funniness, and amusement.;Based on pilot data from 22 judges, five blunt and five subtle cartoons were selected for use as humor stimuli in the main study. The ten cartoons were rated by 60 subjects, each of whom was randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: PA, arousal, and control. The study tested three hypotheses: (1) Subjects receiving positive-affect induction will report more positive appraisal ratings to humorous stimuli than subjects in the other two groups; (2) subjects in the arousal group will report greater amusement than control subjects, but less than PA subjects; and (3) while all subjects will understand nearly every blunt joke, the level of understanding for subtle jokes reported by PA subjects will exceed that reported by subjects in the other two groups.;In order to induce PA, subjects were thanked for their participation, and then given a lottery ticket. A pilot study confirmed the effectiveness of this method by using pleasantness-ratings of affect-neutral words as an indirect measure of PA. Subjects receiving praise and a lottery ticket rated these words more positively than did subjects who received neither.;Subjects in the arousal condition were required to perform an exercise described in Isen, Daubman & Nowicki (1987), which was intended to elevate their heart rate without influencing their hedonic state. In order to compare PA levels among groups, all subjects were asked to rate neutral-word lists--one list at the beginning of the session, right after receiving a lottery ticket or performing the exercise (when applicable), and another list at the end of the experiment.;No significant differences were found among the groups with respect either to appraisal, amusement, or getting the joke. There was no evidence of enhanced PA among subjects in the PA condition, and the exercise resulted in only a modest increase in heart rate. Difficulties in inducing prolonged PA are considered, and methodological improvements are discussed.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
