GETTING THE

PUNCH LINE

Anjali Dhar

The Relationships between Humor

Styles, Attachment Styles, and Humor

Preference

1. Background on attachment

2. Background on humor

3. Relationship between humor and

attachment

4. Previous Research on Humor Preference

5. Our Current Study

Introduction Outline

Background: Attachment

• Attachment: a bond between two people

that involves desire for regular contact

with that person and the experience of

distress during separation from that

person (Bowlby, 1978; Ainsworth at al.,

1978)

Measured by Strange Situation test in infancy

Adult Attachment Styles(Bartholemew & Horowitz, 1991)

Background: Humor(Owren & Bachorowski, 2001)

• Laughter/humor has many uses:

– Evolutionary

– Positive emotions

– Negative emotions

– Beneficial to parent-child relations as

well

Humor Styles(Martin & Puhlik-Doris, 2003)

Self-Defeating Self-Enhancing

Aggressive Affiliative

Negative Positive

Self-Directed

Other-Directed

Relationships between Humor Style and Attachment Style

(Cann et al., 2008)

Attachment Style Humor Style

Anxious Attachment Positive: Self-Defeating

Negative: Self-Enhancing

Avoidant Attachment Positive: Aggressive

Negative: Affiliative

Humor Preference(Lynch, 2010)

• Students watched 30-minute standup

routine while being videotaped

• Compared facial expressions (FACS) with

the Implicit Association Test

• Participants had more positive response

to jokes that reflected implicit

preferences

• We laugh at certain things because we

feel they are true!

Humor Preference, Attachment Style, Humor Style

• Research is lacking in this area• We wanted to find out if preference

for affiliative and aggressive humor were related to attachment style

• We also wanted to find out if certain humor styles corresponded with certain attachment styles in a

stronger way than has been found in the past

Affiliative Humor

Concern for Others

Secure Attachment

Focus on Affiliative Humor

Aggressive Humor

Less concern

for others

Dismissive Attachment

Focus on Aggressive Humor

Attachment and Humor Preference

Hypothesis 1

Attachment Security

Preference for Affiliative

Humor

Attachment Dismissal

Preference for Aggressive

Humor

Hypothesis 2

Attachment and Humor Style

Secure Attachment

Affiliative Humor

Self-Defeating Humor

Security

Dismissive Attachment

Aggressive Humor

Affiliative Humor

Dismissal

Fearful Attachment

Self-Enhancing Humor

Methods

• Participants

– Claremont College students– Ages 18-22– 28 females and 12 males– 62.5% Caucasian, 12.5% Asian, 10%

African American, 7.5% Latino/a, 7.5% Other

Procedure

• 3 short standup clips

– 2 video clips (aggressive and affiliative)

– Participant chooses third video clip (implicit humor

preference)

• Relationships Scales Questionnaire (Adult Attachment)

• Humor Styles Questionnaire (Humor Style)

• Self-report questionnaire on political beliefs

(Distractor)

Attachment and Humor Preference

Hypothesis 1 Results

Attachment Security

Preference for Affiliative

Humor

Attachment Security and Video Choice- Frequencies

Affiliative Aggressive0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Low SecureHigh Secure

Attachment Dismissal

Preference for Aggressive

Humor

Frequencies: Attachment Dismissal and Video Choice

Affiliative Aggressive0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

Low DismissalHigh Dismissal

Hypothesis 2Results

Attachment and Humor Style

Secure Attachment

Affiliative Humor

Self-Defeating Humor

Security

Dismissive Attachment

Aggressive Humor

Affiliative Humor

Dismissal

Fearful Attachment

Self-Enhancing Humor

Summary

• Dismissive attachment is associated with

preference for aggressive humor

• Secure attachment is associated with

affiliative humor usage, negatively with

self-defeating humor usage

• Fearful attachment negatively correlated

with self-enhancing humor usage

Discussion

• Aggressive humor preference =

lowered concern for others

• Secure attachment = preference for

humor content rather than style

• Fearful attachment = lower regard for

self, thus self-defeating humor usage

Limitations

• Small, specific sample

• Limited humor types and content

• Self-report nature of surveys

Conclusions

• Attachment styles, humor styles, and

humor preferences seem to be

significantly related

• Can help understanding of relationships,

enhance social awareness

• Area is promising

Acknowledgements

• Jessie Borelli• Mike Grier

• My Participants• Wanda Sykes

• Dr. Rod Martin (HSQ) • Dr. Kim Bartholomew and Dr. Dale

Griffin (RSQ)