A Review of Humor in Educational Settings: Four Decades of Research

Abstract

The primary goal of this project is to provide a summary of extant research regarding humor in the classroom, with an emphasis on identifying and explaining inconsistencies in research findings and offering new directions for future studies in this area. First, the definitions, functions, and main theories of humor are reviewed. Next, the paper explains types of humorous instructional communication. Third, the empirical findings of both the source and receiver perspectives are reviewed. Finally, this paper concludes with advice for educators and suggests potential future research directions for scholars.

Keywords:

• Humor
• Instructional Communication
• Learning

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr Elena Bessarabova for her advice and assistance with the preparation of this manuscript. Additionally, the authors thank Dr. Melanie Booth-Butterfield and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions and guidance.

Notes

1. When conducting a large-scale review, the issue of exhaustiveness naturally arises. It should be made clear that this review is an attempt to synthesize the key findings from over 40 years of research rather than provide a summary of every study ever published concerning humor and education. Page limits prohibit an exhaustive review.

2. The three main theories discussed here have several different labels. Superiority theory is also known as aggression, disparagement, and degradation theory. Incongruity theory is sometimes labeled incongruity resolution theory when the resolution element is emphasized. Arousal theory is sometimes referred to as arousal relief.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

John A. Banas

John Banas (Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin, 2005) is an assistant professor at the University of Oklahoma

Norah Dunbar

Norah Dunbar (Ph.D., University of Arizona, 2000) is an associate professor

Dariela Rodriguez

Dariela Rodriguez is doctoral student

Shr-Jie Liu

Shr-Jie Liu is doctoral student