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Two Studies on the Social Function of Joking As an Outlet for Aggression. John W

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Two Studies on the Social Function of Joking As an Outlet for Aggression. John W Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1967 Two Studies on the Social Function of Joking as an Outlet for Aggression. John W. Dresser Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Dresser, John W., "Two Studies on the Social Function of Joking as an Outlet for Aggression." (1967). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 1243. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/1243 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. TWO STUDIES ON THE SOCIAL FUNCTION OF JOKING AS AN OUTLET FOR AGGRESSION A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Psychology by John W. Dresser B.A., Pomona College, 1958 M.A., Louisiana State University, 1962 January, 1967 ACKNOWLEDGMENT The author wishes to express his deep appreciation to his major professor, Dr. Robert N. Vidulich, for his advice and en­ couragement throughout the course of this research, and for his confidence and generous support throughout the author's doctoral program. Particular thanks are also due Dr. Roland L. Frye for his advice on statistical aspects of the present research. A very special appreciation is owed the author's wife, Mrs. Frances Dresser, for her indispensible assistance in conducting the experimental procedure, and for the continuous interest, encourage­ ment, and everyday support which only one's closest life companion can provide. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ACKNOWLEDGMENT............................................... ii LIST OF T A B L E S ............................................... v ABSTRACT ...................................................... vii INTRODUCTION .................................................. 1 Summary of Non-Psychoanalytic Theories ...................... 10 Psychoanalytic Theory....................................... 14 Theoretical Contributions ofPsychology ...................... 19 Group and Cultural Sanctions............................... 20 Experimental Studies ....................................... 21 Proposed Theory and Hypotheses ............................. 23 METHOD ........................................................ 31 Independent Variables....................................... 31 Dependent Variables......................................... 35 Subjects.................................................... 39 Experimental Procedure ..................................... 39 RESULTS........................................................ 42 Peer Rating Procedure....................................... 42 Experimental Procedure ..................................... 45 Mirth Response Scores. ................................. 45 Summary of Results for Mirth Response S c ores ............... 60 PAGE Funniness Ratings........................................... 62 Aggressiveness Ratings ...................................... 68 DISCUSSION............................................. • . 76 SUMMARY......................................... 85 REFERENCES................................................... 88 APPENDICES................................................... 93 VITA ........................................................... Ill iv LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Pearson Correlation Coefficients Between Peer Ratings of Joking and of Other Behavioral Tendencies........ 43 2. Means and Standard Deviations for Mirth Response Scores for Jokes Clearly Hostile to Males .......... 47 3. Summary of Analysis of Variance of Mirth Response Scores for Jokes Clearly Hostile to Males .......... 48 4. Means and Standard Deviations for Mirth Response Scores for Jokes Clearly Hostile to Females................ 49 5. Summary of Analysis of Variance of Mirth Response Scores for Jokes Clearly Hostile to Females ........ 50 6. Means and Standard Deviations for Mirth Response Scores for Jokes Subtly Hostile to Males............ 51 7. Summary of Analysis of Variance of Mirth Response Scores for Jokes Subtly Hostile to Males............ 52 8. Means and Standard Deviations for Mirth Response Scores for Jokes Subtly Hostile to Females ................ 53 9. Summary of Analysis of Variance of Mirth Response Scores for Jokes Subtly Hostile to Females.......... 54 10. Means and Standard Deviations for Mirth Response Scores for Non-Hostile Jokes......................... 55 11. Summary of Analysis of Variance of Mirth Response Scores for Non-Hostile Jokes......................... 56 12. Summary of F Ratios for Mirth Response Scores Approaching or Obtaining Significance and Corresponding p Values............................... 61 13. Summary of Analysis of Variance of Funniness Rating Scores for Jokes Clearly Hostile to Males .......... 63 v Table Page 14. Summary of Analysis of Variance of Funniness Rating Scores for Jokes Clearly Hostile to Females ........ 64 15. Summary of Analysis of Variance of Funniness Rating Scores for Jokes Subtly Hostile to Males............ 65 16. Summary of Analysis of Variance of Funniness Rating Scores for Jokes Subtly Hostile to Females.......... 66 17. Summary of Analysis of Variance of Funniness Rating Scores for Non-Hostile Jokes......................... 67 18. Means and Standard Deviations for Aggressiveness Ratings for Clearly Hostile Jokes .................. 69 19. Means and Standard Deviations for Aggressiveness Ratings for Subtly Hostile Jokes..................... 70 20. Means and Standard Deviations for Aggressiveness Ratings for Non-Hostile Jokes ....................... 71 21. Summary of Analysis of Variance of Aggressiveness Rating Scores for Clearly Hostile Jokes ............ 72 22. Summary of Analysis of Variance of Aggressiveness Rating Scores for Subtly Hostile Jokes............... 73 23. Summary of Analysis of Variance of Aggressiveness Rating Scores for Non-Hostile Jokes ................. 74 vi ABSTRACT The major non-psychoanalytic theories of humor were reviewed, and from these the principal recurrent concepts were extracted and summarized. Freud’s theory was reviewed and was seen to differ from previous theories primarily in the emphasis assigned the role of the repressed personality in joking. A view alternative to Freud's was developed, emphasizing joking as a technique for the circumvention of social rather than ego defensive obstacles, in the service of ego syntonic rather than ego alien aggression. It was proposed that joking depends upon shared associations, shared expectations, and the release of shared inhibitions, therefore requiring a substantial degree of socialization within any given group, and succeeds most readily in a social situation providing expectation of approval and complicity. Since jokes are predominantly aggressive, and simulta­ neously solicit complicity and positive interpersonal feelings, it was proposed that joking serves to accommodate aggressive and affiliative tendencies which might otherwise conflict. It was predicted that both aggressive tendencies and affilia­ tive skills would characterize those who joke with regularity, and that aggressive tendencies would be overt, rather than inhibited as Freud had suggested. The tendency to joke was assessed by peer ratings in a fraternity population, and conversational skill, four varieties of verbally aggressive behavior, and two varieties of vii physically aggressive behavior were similarly assessed. The peer rating scores for joking were correlated with corresponding scores for each of the other behavior tendencies. The obtained coefficient of correlation was very high between joking and conversational skill, substantial between joking and each measure of verbal aggression, and substantial between joking and the tendency to physically fight. On both verbal and physical levels of aggression, joking was most highly correlated with the more direct and openly hostile behaviors, thus strongly supporting the author's hypothesis and failing to confirm the position of Freud. The importance of joke technique as a disguise for aggression had been emphasized by Freud, who viewed the success of this disguise' as a necessary condition to joke enjoyment. However, if the principal function of joking is the circumvention of social obstacles rather than internal inhibitions, a joke's success would be expected to depend not upon failure to recognize its aggressiveness, but upon a social situa­ tion in which approval and complicity in this aggressiveness is antic­ ipated . A study of response to aggressive jokes was conducted, in which r . ’f the experimental, group was oriented toward the potential aggressive­ ness of jokes and was required to rate the aggressiveness of each joke, thus tending to defeat the joke's disguise. Jokes hostile to both males and females were used, and were administered half by a male and half by a female experimenter. Since all subjects were males, this provided two situations in which habitual control of hostile aggression viii and the expectation of complicity were assumed to differ. Jokers and non-jokers were compared in their response to these conditions. While each subject rated the funniness
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