The role of humor in human relationships: An evolutionary model Tisljár Roland1 , Sefcsik Tamás1, Bereczkei Tamás2 1University of Szeged, Institute of Psychology 2 University of Pécs, Institute of Psychology 8th Alps-Adria Psychology Conference Ljubljana, 2008.

Outline Theoretical background Method Results Discussion Evolutionary theories of humor Humor as the product of sexual selection Role of similarity in human relationships Method Results Discussion

Evolved basis of humor Laughing and humor are universal (Buss, 1989) Unvoluntary, reflex-like reaction (Weisfeld, 1993) Similar to our basic emotions (Martin, 2007)

Evolutionary theories of humor 1. Humor and laughter are likely originated in social play (van Hoof and Preuschoft, 2003) Facilitating the development of various adaptive skills (Bateson, 2005) Playfully practice important skills (Weisfeld, 1993) In a non-threatening context Social cognition, interpersonal behavior

Evolutionary theories of humor 2. Vocal grooming (Dunbar, 1996) Facilitates social bonding Emotion-induction mechanism (Gervais and Wilson, 2005) Faster way of becoming playful during times of safety Competitive advantage over other groups Creativity is the most important part of humor (Miller, 2000) Rather than its agressiveness Sexual selection play a major role in its evolution

Humor and the mate choice process Humor is a highly valued social trait (Apte, 1987; Feingold, 1992) One of the ten most desirable characteristics (Buss, 1989) Friendships, relation partners (Joeyen-Waldorf, 2003)

Testing Miller’s theory Bressler and Balshine (2006) Women prefer men with a good sense of humor Men’s preference is not influenced by this characteristics Bressler, Martin and Balshine (2006) Different ideas of the sexes about what the desirable sense of humor is Women – Someone who makes them laugh Men – Someone who laughs at their jokes

Homogamy and mate choice People tend to choose mates on the basis of similarity (Bereczkei and Csanaky, 1996) Race, socioeconomic status, age, intellectual ability, personality variables (Bereczkei, Vörös, Gál and Bernáth, 1997) Married couples are more genetically similar than randomly paired individuals (Buunk and Fries, 1997)

Hypothesis Humor works as a matching device in the beginning of the relationship Honest information about the prospective partner’s mind We choose our partner on the basis of similarity How similarly our minds work

Method Participants Procedures 38 couples (mean age=22,7, SD=4,5) Humor Style Questionnaire (HSQ) (Martin et al., 2003) Four dimensions: Affiliative humor (+) Self-enhancing humor (+) Agressive humor (-) Self-defeating humor (-) Romantic relationship-satisfaction questionnaire (RSQ) (self-produced)

Items from the Humor Styles Questionnaire measure Affiliative humor „I don’t have to work very hard at making other people laugh – I seem to be a naturally humorous person.” Self-enhancing humor „If I am feeling depressed, I can usually cheer myself up with humor.” Aggresive humor „If I don’t like someone, I often use humor or teasing to put them down.” Self-defeating humor „I let people laugh at me or make fun at my expense more than I should.”

Items from the Relationship Satisfaction Questionnaire „How many time has elapsed from the beginning of this relationship?” „How many time has elapsed between your acquaintance and the beginning of this relationship?” „How much are you satisfied with this relationship?” (1-5 Likert scale) „Will you be together in a year’s time (if it is depends on you)?”

Results

Gender differences within couples: HSQ dimensions mean scores 25 30 35 40 45 50 Affiliative humor Self-enhancing Aggressive Self-defeating HSQ mean scores Male partner Female partner n.s. n.s. * n.s.

Correlations between the HSQ dimensions and the Relationships satisfaction items Affiliative humor Self-enhancing humor Aggressive humor Self-defeating humor Conflict with the partner’s emotional closedness ** (r=-0,24; p=0,001) Problem-solving with the use of humor (r=0,44; p=0,00) Conflict with the partner’s alcohol or drug using * (r=0,33; p=0,005) Time elapsed between the first meeting and the beginning of the relationship . (r=0,30; p=0,01)

Discussion High similarity in the couples humor styles Humor may work as a matching device in the beginning of the relationships Typical humor style can also shows a tendency to hide our true self

I’d like to thank to Rod. A. Martin László Séra Péter Vukov Bernadett Bodor Zsófia Kapás Mónika Krizsán Márta Pápai Szilvia Polgár Kamilla Polyák Orsolya Szabó Karolina Janacsek Dezső Németh

Thank you for your attention! http://www.evolutionpsychology.com/ tisljar@gmail.com