Laughing at Different Jokes: Humor Across Cultures

The fundamental view of humor differs across cultures.

Source: Felix Rostig/ Unsplash

Have you ever heard a joke that made you burst into laughter while your immigrant friend had a straight face? There are many stereotypes about humor, such as the British are sarcastic, the Americans are good at physical comedy, and the Japanese enjoy puns (McKeown, 2017). But is humor actually driven by culture? As noted by Dean Foster, a culture expert: “No amount of skill will ensure the success of a joke or humorous anecdote if the content and style are culturally inappropriate.”

Eastern vs. Western views of humor

There's a fundamental difference in humor between Westerners and Easterners. A few studies have examined this difference in the perception of humor and its usage among individuals from different cultures. It has been found that Westerners consider humor to be a desirable trait, associate it with positivity, and emphasize the importance of humor. On the other hand, Easterners don’t think of humor as positive. According to most Chinese natives, humor is a trait that exclusively belongs to experts.

In one study, it was found that Westerners (participants from Vancouver) regarded ordinary people as more humorous and valued humor more, as compared to Chinese participants who regarded comedians (or humor-related professions) as more humorous and considered humor as being less important. This difference can be attributed to the emphasis placed on collectivism in Chinese culture, that is, the importance of hierarchical social structure, respect for authority, and high value of social influence. On the other hand, individualism, generally favored by Westerners, emphasizes autonomy, self-expression, novelty of thinking, and freedom of expression.

Differences in humor usage

This difference in humor perception has an impact on humor usage across cultures. To be specific, people residing in Western countries use humor for coping with stress and difficulties in their life. However, on the other hand, it is less likely that Easterners will use humor as a coping strategy. Various studies found that Japanese, Chinese, and Singaporean students were less likely to use humor as a coping device as compared to their Western counterparts. Surveys on American and Chinese students have indicated that Americans along with Canadians are found to be more funny, as compared to the Chinese. As stated by Judge John C. H. Wu, “whereas Westerners are seriously humorous, Chinese people are humorously serious.”

Humor styles

It has been noted that there are four different types of humor styles: affiliative humor (tendency to tell jokes in order to laugh with others), self-enhancing humor (finding amusement in life’s hardships to cheer oneself), self-defeating humor (making fun of oneself for the enjoyment of others), and aggressive humor (a hostile form used to enhance oneself at the expense of others).

Research has indicated that individuals residing in the East use more adaptive humor and those in the West use more maladaptive humor. It has also been indicated that individuals from countries having collectivistic cultures (such as India and Hong Kong) use affiliative and self-enhancing humor and not aggressive and self-defeating humor. Specifically, it has been observed that individuals residing in horizontal collectivist cultures (emphasizing harmony and group cohesion) tend to use affiliative humor whereas those in vertical collectivist cultures (those that value self-sacrifice) are more likely to use self-defeating humor. Those individuals from vertical individualistic cultures that support competitiveness tend to use aggressive humor.

Some cultures think humor is desirable and positive, but others do not.

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Culturally dependent humor

The meaning and form of the language of humor are different for both English and Chinese languages. Further, it has been noted that humor, which is rooted in one’s cultural heritage, linguistic knowledge, or particular cultural perspective, fails to cross over the cultural divide. There is an old saying that, “Humor doesn’t travel” suggesting that it is difficult to understand certain jokes and types of humor by those who are not part of that culture.

A humor researcher remarked, “Although humor and laughter are universal in humans and are likely a product of natural selection, the way people use and express them in a given time and place is strongly influenced by cultural norms, beliefs, attitudes, and values.” Therefore, an integrated approach considering cultural differences in studies that focus on humor perception and usage is necessary, so that more generalizable and meaningful results are obtained.

This post was written by Nikita Mehta, a Junior Research Assistant at the Department of Psychology at Monk Prayogshala, India.