This paper reviews psychological research concerned with the relationship between broad factors of social and political attitudes and preferences for different types of humor. Conservatives, compared with liberals, were found to dislike jokes that are overtly sexual and aggressive, although there are signs of a recent reaction against "sexist" jokes among liberal youth. Within the sphere of nonsense humor, conservatives were intolerant of jokes that failed to provide resolution of incongruous elements. Such results confirm the hypothesis that conservatives seek emotional control and cognitive closure compared with liberals, who are comfortable with more abandoned self expression and thought processes.
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