Jokes optimise social norms, laughter synchronises social attitudes: an evolutionary hypothesis on the origins of humour

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Keywords

humour
laughter
jokes
evolution
social norms
emotions

How to Cite

Polimeni, J. (2021). Jokes optimise social norms, laughter synchronises social attitudes: an evolutionary hypothesis on the origins of humour. The European Journal of Humour Research, 4(2), 70–81. https://doi.org/10.7592/EJHR2016.4.2.polimeni (Original work published September 3, 2015)

Abstract

A prominent humour theory suggests that most jokes will violate a subjective moral principle. This paper explores the ramifications of Thomas Veatch’s social violations theory of humour, and hypothesizes that jokes tend to produce four distinct humour emotions, in a sequential manner. The final emotional response to a humorous stimulus involves an aesthetic judgement about the inference of the joke. Humour could therefore be a cognitive-emotional mechanism used to appraise social norms while laughter serves to signal appreciation for the social inferences associated with the joke. It is further proposed that the cognitive-emotional structure of humour implies an evolutionarily adaptive function.

https://doi.org/10.7592/EJHR2016.4.2.polimeni
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