Generality of Response to Humor and Wit in Cartoons, Jokes, Stories and Photographs

Abstract

Four types of cartoons, the O'Connell Story Test, humorous photographs, and humorous literature were presented to 30 men and 30 women college students in an experiment designed to assess the generality of humor and structure of wit. Little relationship was found between cartoons and other humorous media, although there was a correlation of .336 between the O'Connell Humor score and appreciation of absurdity cartoons. Responses to humorous photographs and literary selections were not correlated with responses to cartoon types, but showed some relation to the O'Connell Hostile Wit score. Significant sex differences were noted in ratings of cartoon types.