Contextual Connections to Puns in Fables: Perceived Humor

• Published in: The Journal of general psychology Vol. 128; no. 2; pp. 157 - 169
• Main Authors: Lippman, Louis G., Sucharski, Ivan Laars, Bennington, Kristine
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Taylor & Francis Group 01.04.2001; Taylor & Francis Inc
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Associative Processes; Context Effects; Female; Folklore; Humans; Humor; Language; Male; Perception; Perceptions; Psychology; pun; Rhetorical Figures; Wit and Humor as Topic; Word Play
• ISSN: 0022-1309; 1940-0888
• DOI: 10.1080/00221300109598905

Adding material that provided an associative connection to a pun enhances perceived humor, as shown in a previous series of studies. Because those results had been based on one-sentence statements that may have relied, in part, on brevity for humor, the purpose of the present study was to evaluate reactions to context and puns (mostly spoonerisms) with more lengthy material to add generality to those findings. Three within-subject studies were conducted in which short fables were manipulated systematically such that the final sentence was or was not a pun and contextual information pertaining to both meanings of the pun was or was not present in the body of the stories. Results showed that the pun itself was a powerful contributor to perceived humor and cleverness and that contextual information amplified those perceptions. Arousal, surprise, and detection of appropriate incongruity are discussed.