Does religion affect humour creation? An experimental study
Humour has been hypothesized to be negatively affected by religion. In a recent study (Saroglou, 2000), religiosity and religious fundamentalism (contrary to 'quest' religiosity) were found to be negatively associated with humour creation. The present experiment investigated whether this a...
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Published in | Mental health, religion & culture Vol. 4; no. 1; pp. 33 - 46 |
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Main Authors | , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Taylor & Francis Group
01.05.2001
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Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Humour has been hypothesized to be negatively affected by religion. In a recent study (Saroglou, 2000), religiosity and religious fundamentalism (contrary to 'quest' religiosity) were found to be negatively associated with humour creation. The present experiment investigated whether this association reflects causality. Eighty-five students were tested for their propensity to spontaneously produce humour as a response to hypothetical daily hassles after exposure to a religious video or to a humorous one vs. a non-stimulation condition. Significant effects of condition, gender and interaction were observed, and this in the predicted direction: religious stimulation inhibited humour, while humorous stimulation promoted it. Participants' religious fundamentalism and orthodoxy predicted low humour creation in the religious condition but not in the humorous one. The possible impact of conscientiousness is also discussed. |
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ISSN: | 1367-4676 1469-9737 |
DOI: | 10.1080/713685611 |