Humor and Social Interaction

Before reading Martin’s book The Psychology of Humor: An Integrative Approach and Morreall’s article The Philosophy of Laughter and Humor, I thought ethics was about doing the right thing or the wrong thing. In terms of humor, I feel it is simply a nice experience that causes others to laugh and entertain themselves, particularly during conversation or when watching a film or comedy. It had nothing to do with cognitive experience, I knew. Similarly, I regarded social contact to be teenagers or even adults sitting together speaking or simply having fun. Notably, at a social gathering, humor and hence laughter may occur. After reading Martin’s and Morreall’s books, I found out that humor is significantly a social phenomenon. As a result, people tend to joke and laugh quite often when they are in a group. The implication is that individuals tend to occasionally laugh while alone when watching a film or comedy when reading entertaining books or even when remembering a comical personal experience (Martin 4). Besides, I learned that humor could occur in almost any social situation. It can happen between spouses or friends who have stayed together for many years or even between strangers meeting at a particular place. Moreover, it can occur in the discussion of a grouping of a close friend sitting around the table at a coffee shop.

Further, I realized that humor remains to be one of the characteristics of human interaction which makes us human. Humans use humor to lubricate the wheels of the social interaction, to influence other people, or rather make others happy (Morreall 5). Additionally, humor also seems to be a common phenomenon, playing a vital role in contexts as varied as the business negotiation as well as workplace interactions. However, ethics is essential in social interaction. Ethics demands that jokes should not negatively affect any person or involve any form of abuse.

In conclusion, humor and laughter imply that they possibly have significant social-emotional roles which have contributed to human health. Overall, humor can be applied by public speakers, like politicians and religious leader while addressing large audiences. Indeed, humor is fundamentally a way for individuals to interrelate in a lighthearted manner.

Works Cited

Martin, R. A. ’The psychology of humor: An integrative approach.’’ Academic Press, 2010.

Morreall, John. “The philosophy of laughter and humor.” (1986).