E-Book Overview
Research on humor is carried out in a number of areas in psychology, including the cognitive (What makes something funny?), developmental (when do we develop a sense of humor?), and social (how is humor used in social interactions?) Although there is enough interest in the area to have spawned several societies, the literature is dispersed in a number of primary journals, with little in the way of integration of the material into a book. Dr. Martin is one of the best known researchers in the area, and his research goes across subdisciplines in psychology to be of wide appeal. This is a singly authored monograph that provides in one source, a summary of information researchers might wish to know about research into the psychology of humor. The material is scholarly, but the presentation of the material is suitable for people unfamiliar with the subject-making the book suitable for use for advanced undergraduate and graduate level courses on the psychology of humor-which have not had a textbook source.2007 AATH Book Award for Humor/Laughter Research category! *Up-to-date coverage of research on humor and laughter in every area of psychology*Research findings are integrated into a coherent conceptual framework*Includes recent brain imaging studies, evolutionary models, and animal research*Draws on contributions from sociology, linguistics, neuroscience, and anthropology*Provides an overview of theories of humor and early research*Explores applications of humor in psychotherapy, education, and the workplace*Points out interesting topics for further research and promising research methodologies*Written in a scholarly yet easily accessible style*2007 AATH Book Award for Humor/Laughter Research category
E-Book Content
FM-P372564.qxd 15/8/06 2:16 PM Page xiii FOREWORD U nderstanding the nature of humor is a problem for psychology. Humor, comedy, and laughter are important and engaging aspects of behavior. Consequently, they have received attention from many perspectives and approaches. The amount and diversity of relevant information should have made this book impossible to write. The material for a work on humor is widely scattered, both in space and time. Even if the focus is on psychology, all the other areas touching humor need to be examined. Not only empirical research, but rational and literary thought must be included. Rod Martin has not only brought this material together but turned it into an easy read. To borrow a simile from James Agee, it must have been like “putting socks on an octopus.” The Psychology of Humor: An Integrative Approach can stand at the head of a line of books that have presented a picture of this universal trait. Any philosopher who wrote on human nature discussed laughter and, at least by implication, humor. Bergson and Freud at the beginning of the last century focused on laughter and wit to present testable, if not tested, hypotheses. Psychologists in the middle of the century included humor as part of their assessments of personality. Chapman and Foot, and Goldstein and McGhee (as well as McGhee and Goldstein) gave humor scholars a platform in the 1970s and 1980s. Separate chapters in these various books permitted presentation of data and ideas, but little interaction or direct communication. Even now, with a yearly conference and a quarterly journal, disagreement is more typical than exchange and cooperation. Here, then, with a single voice Martin surveys xiii FM-P372564.qxd 15/8/06 2:16 PM Page xiv xiv FOREWORD and integrates a disparate field. After 100 years, we have some answers to the questions the theories have raised. It is possible to evaluate incongruity/surprise, aggression/superiority, tension/release, and so on. Their points of overlap and agreement as well as their conflicts can be examined and a decision advanced as to w