A total of 401 Croatian university students completed a translation of the Multidimensional Sense of Humor Scale. Scores were compared with those of a sample similar in age and sex composition from Omaha, Nebraska (N = 242). The American respondents scored significantly higher on the element of self-described humor creativity. Factor analyses of intercorrelations from the two samples indicated differences in constructions of sense of humor.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AlfordR.AlfordR. (1981) A holo-cultural study of humor. Ethos, 9, 149–164.
2.
BruhnJ. G.MurrayJ. L. (1985) “Playing the dozens”: Its history and psychological significance. Psychological Reports, 56, 483–494.
3.
CaillatZ.MuellerB. (1996) Observations: The influence of culture on American and British advertising. Journal of Advertising Research, 36(3), 79–88.
4.
DaviesC. (1990) Ethnic humor around the world: A comparative analysis. Bloomington, IN: Indiana Univer. Press.
5.
DavisM. S. (1993) What's so funny? The comic conception of culture and society. Chicago, IL: Univer. of Chicago Press.
6.
HampesW. P. (1993) Relation between humor and generativity. Psychological Reports, 73, 131–136.
7.
HampesW. P. (1994) Relation between intimacy and the Multidimensional Sense of Humor Scale. Psychological Reports, 74, 1360–1362.
8.
HillC. (1993) The soul of wit: Joke theory from Grimm to Freud. Lincoln, NE: Univer. of Nebraska Press.
9.
HumkeC.SchaeferC. E. (1996) Sense of humor and creativity. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 82, 544–546.
10.
KohlerG.RuchW. (1996) Sources of variance in current sense of humor inventories: How much substance, how much method variance?Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 9, 363–397.
11.
LaFaveL. (1972) Humor judgments as a function of reference groups and identification classes. In GoldsteinJ. H.McGheeP. E. (Eds.), The psychology of humor. New York: Academic Press. Pp. 195–210.
12.
MartinR. A.LefcourtH. M. (1984) Situational Humor Response Questionnaire: Quantitative measure of sense of humor. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47, 145–155.
13.
ObrdlikA. J. (1942) Gallows humor: A sociological phenomenon. American Journal of Sociology, 47, 709–716.
14.
RodriguesS. B.CollinsonD. L. (1995) ‘Having fun’?: Humour as resistance in Brazil. Organization Studies, 16, 739–768.
15.
StokkerK. (1995) Folklore fights the Nazis: Humor in occupied Norway, 1940–1945. Madison, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson Univer. Press.
16.
TamaokaK.TakahashiT. (1994) Understanding humour from another culture: Comprehension of parental brain twisters by Japanese university students learning English as a second language. Psychologia: An international journal of psychology in the Orient, 37, 150–157.
17.
ThorsonJ. A. (1993) Did you ever see a hearse go by? Some thoughts on gallows humor. Journal of American Culture, 16(2), 17–24.
18.
ThorsonJ. A.PowellF. C. (1993a) Development and validation of a multidimensional sense of humor scale. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 49, 13–23.
19.
ThorsonJ. A.PowellF. C. (1993b) Sense of humor and dimensions of personality. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 49, 799–809.
20.
ThorsonJ. A.PowellF. C. (1994) Depression and sense of humor. Psychological Reports, 75, 1473–1474.
21.
ThorsonJ. A.PowellF. C. (1996) Women, aging, and sense of humor. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 9, 169–186.
22.
UngerL. S. (1996) The potential for using humor in global advertising. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 9, 143–168.
23.
WeinbergerM. G.SpottsH. E. (1989) Humor in U.S. versus U.K. TV commercials: A comparison. Journal of Advertising, 18(2), 39–44.
24.
WellerL.AmitsourE.PazziR. (1976) Reactions to absurd humor by Jews of Eastern and Western descent. Journal of Social Psychology, 98, 159–163.
25.
YoderM. A.HaudeR. H. (1995) Sense of humor and longevity: Older adults' self-ratings compared with ratings for deceased siblings. Psychological Reports, 76, 945–946.
26.
ZivA. (1984) Personality and sense of humor. New York: Springer.
27.
ZivA.ZajdmanA. (1993) Semites and stereotypes: Characteristics of Jewish humor. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
