To Laugh or Not to Laugh:

How people perceive humor differently

Molly Ruddell

We Know What It Looks Like…But What is Humor?

Communication tool with many positive and negative applications

My Sense of Humor

Video

Eddie Izzard “Evil Giraffe”

Behind the Laughter

Humor is not universal Many factors effect

perception

Personality

Extroversion vs. Introversion

Aggressiveness Self-deprecation

Life experience

Culture

Acquisition of values/political ideology

Subject of the Joke

We like to hear about

what we know

The Project Wrote a script for performance Organized a comedy show with other

students from a theater class

The Collaborators Josh Meredith Louis Nick Emily

Challenges Venturing out of my comfort zone ORGANIZATION Seeking help from others Thinking thematically

What I’ve Learned [This class wasn’t totally useless]

It’s not that some people are funny and some are not Everyone can have a humorous perspective in

their own right

Continued It is a evolving life skill and communication

tool!

Works Cited

“Billy Connolly”. Online image. 28 Feb 2009.2YearsinKiwiLandBlog. 19 May 2009. <http://2yearsinkiwiland.blogspot>.

Crowley, Julie. “Hostile Aggressive Parent”. Online image. 13 Jun. 2007. StepparentAdoptionBlog. 19 May 2009.<http://stepparent.adoptionblogs.com>.

“Ear”. Online image. 2008. SivaramaSwami.com. 19 May 2009. <http://sivaramaswami.com>. Eddie Izzard. “Evil Giraffe”. Online video. Youtube. 19 May 2009. <http://youtube.com>. “Eddie Izzard”. Online image. 7 Aug. 2008. InstantRiverside.com. 19 May 2009. <http://instantriverside.com>. “Funny Fruit”. Online image. 1 May 2009. CouchInaPotatoBlog. 19 May

2009.<http://4.bp.blogspot.com/.../s400/noname11.jpg>. Kuhlman, Thomas L. “A Study of Salience and Motivational Theories of Humor”.Journal of Personality and Social

Psychology. 1985: 281-286.EbscoPyschArticles. Springfield Township HS Lib. 26 Feb. 2009.<http://ebscopyscharticles.com>.

“Laugher”. Online image. 13 Oct. 2008. GrannySmithGreen. 19 May 2009. <http://gyork.co.uk/images/laughter.jpg>.

McGhee, Paul E. “A Developmental Test of the Dispositional Theory of Humor”. Child Development. Sep. 1981: 925-931. JSTOR. Springfield Township HS Lib. 3 Mar. 2009. <http://jstor.org>.

Mobbs, Dean. “Personality Predicts Activity in Reward and Emotional Regions Associated with Humor”. The National Academy of Sciences. 8 Nov. 2005:16502-16506. JSTOR. Springfield Township HS Lib. 3

Mar. 2009.<http://jstor.org>. O’Brien, Mike ed. The Best British Stand-Up and Comedy Routines. New York, NY: Carroll & Graf

Publishers, 2006.

Continued “Planets”. Online image. 11 Dec. 2003. lepmfi. 19 May 2009. <http://lepfmi.gsfc.nasa.gov>. Provine, Robert R. Laughter: A Scientific Investigation. New York, NY: Penguin Putnam Inc, 2000. “Ricky Gervais”. Online image. 2007. FilmWad.com. 19 May 2009. <http://filmwad.com>. Sanford, Stephanie. “Adolescent Humor During Peer Interaction”. Social Psychology Association. Sep. 1984:

235-243. JSTOR. American Sociological Association.Springfield Township HS Lib. 3 Mar. 2009. <http://jstor.org>.

Shulman, Polly. “Crack Me Up: Breaking the Humor Code”. Pyschology Today. July/August 2006. 69-77 Wilson, Glenn D. “Ideology and Humor Preferences”. International Political Science Review. Oct. 1990: 461-472.

JSTOR. Sage Publications, Ltd. Springfield Township HS Lib. 3 Mar. 2009. <http://jstor.org>. “World Flags”. Online image. Magma-amgm. 19 May 2009. <http://magma-amgm.org>.

All Other Pictures Are From ClipArt

The End