ABSTRACT
Gianna A. Vivo
OBJECTIVE.- To determine whether or not the anticipation and prior knowledge of humor as it is related to a given text has any bearing on how funny the subject perceives the text to be.
DESIGN.- Two sets of questionnaires were constructed. Each set included a short humorous text. One set contained a "warning" of humor in the text, the other set did not. On the second page of the questionnaire the subjects were asked to evaluate the text in regards to its humorousness. The subjects were also instructed to answer four questions concerning themselves.
SETTING.- Youngstown State University students on campus; mostly students in Composition I or II class.
PARTICIPANTS.- The questionnaire was given to approximately 52 students at YSU. The subjects were essentially a random selection.
RESULTS.- Results from this study showed that in this particular study the announcement of humor in a text had no bearing whatsoever on how funny the subjects thought the text to be. However, the results did show a significant difference in the perception of humor in this given text between English majors and non-English majors.
CONCLUSIONS.- This particular study, for many possible reasons, did not prove that the anticipation of humor (the "warning" of humor) has any affect on how funny a subject finds the text.
The objective of this study was to determine whether or not subjects would rate a text more humorous when they were warned / told that the text was in fact funny as opposed to the ratings by another group that was not told that the text provided for them was humorous.