The effects of sense of humor, defensiveness, and gender on the interpretation of ambiguous messages

This study investigated the effects of sense of humor, defensiveness, and gender on the interpretation of ambiguous messages directed toward the self. In two studies, respondents completed questionnaires featuring written scenarios to test for perceptions of messages as humorous or critical. Sense of humor was related to the humorous interpretations of the messages, whereas defensiveness did. not have a significant effect on the defensive interpretations. In Study 1, females interpreted messages regarding mental and physical errors in a more humorous manner, and males interpreted them more defensively. In Study 2, females and males interpreted messages regarding appearance similarly, but females interpreted a message regarding weight more defensively.

Key concepts:

• Humor
• Defensiveness
• Gender
• Message Interpretation