To determine effects of position on appreciation of humor, one “target” joke was placed in the 1st, 5th, 10th, 15th, or 20th position in a series of 20 jokes. Male and female university students rated the 20 jokes for funniness, and the mean rating of the target joke was then compared across the five positions. Analysis indicated that the position of the target joke in the series did affect its rating of humorousness, regardless of the sex of the subjects rating the joke. The relationship between the position of the target joke and its rating appeared as a statistically significant cubic trend.
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