Chapter 21 Exercises: The Role of Humor

Exercise 21.1 — Humor Styles Self-Assessment

Individual | 20–30 minutes

Using Rod Martin's Humor Styles framework (affiliative, self-enhancing, aggressive, self-defeating), reflect honestly on your own humor patterns.

Part A: Rate yourself on each style from 1 (rarely/never) to 5 (often/characteristic), then write 2–3 sentences explaining your rating with a specific example.

Part B: Consider whether your humor style changes across contexts — with close friends, in professional settings, with someone you are romantically interested in. Describe the shifts you notice and what drives them.

Part C: Based on the research discussed in this chapter, what do you predict about the attractiveness-effects of your dominant humor style in courtship contexts? Be honest about any discrepancy between how you present yourself and what the research suggests.

Note: This exercise is for personal reflection, not for graded self-disclosure. You will not be required to share the content with the class — only your analysis in Part C.

Exercise 21.2 — Humor Observation Log

Individual field exercise | One week

For seven days, keep a brief log of humor events you observe in real social situations (not performances or media, but actual interpersonal interactions). For each event, note:

  1. Setting and relationship between parties
  2. Type of humor (use the Martin taxonomy)
  3. Response of the audience — laughter? kind? type of laughter?
  4. Your assessment of whether it produced genuine connection or tension
  5. Any observations about gender, status, or cultural dynamics

After seven days, write a 400-word reflection analyzing patterns across your observations. What does your sample tell you about humor in actual social life, versus what the research would predict?

Exercise 21.3 — The Gender Asymmetry Debate

Small group discussion | 25–35 minutes

Divide into groups of 3–4. Each group should assign members to advocate for one of the following positions:

  1. The gender asymmetry in humor production/appreciation is primarily evolutionary (fitness signaling in mate choice)
  2. The asymmetry is primarily socialized (performance norms constraining women's humor)
  3. The asymmetry is primarily a measurement artifact (how we study humor produces the finding)

After 15 minutes of internal discussion, groups present their best argument to the class. Follow-up discussion: What evidence would it take to distinguish between these accounts? Is it possible to definitively resolve the debate with existing methods?

Exercise 21.4 — Digital Humor Analysis

Pairs or individual | 20 minutes

Find three examples of humor in dating app profiles (you can use your own, a friend's with permission, or publicly shared examples from research discussions — do not use real people without consent).

For each example, analyze: - What type of humor is being deployed (use the Martin framework)? - What signals is the humor sending about the profile owner? - Who is the implied audience for the joke — who would "get" it, and who would not? - Based on the research, predict the effect of this humor on potential matches. Would it be broadly positive, selectively positive, or potentially negative for some audiences?

Write a 300-word analysis of one example in depth.

Exercise 21.5 — The Ethics of Courtship Humor

Class discussion | 15–20 minutes

Consider the following scenario: A person on a first date uses humor that the date finds mildly offensive (a joke involving a stereotype about their ethnic or cultural group). The joke-maker, when challenged, says: "I was just joking — you're so sensitive."

Discuss: 1. What work is the phrase "I was just joking" doing in this interaction? 2. How does the social expectation to "take a joke" create a power asymmetry? 3. What would a genuinely accountable response look like from the joke-maker? 4. Does the attractiveness literature on humor (type, compatibility) help explain why this scenario unfolds the way it does?

Exercise 21.6 — Humor Compatibility Interview

Pairs | 30 minutes

Partner with someone in the class you do not know well. Spend fifteen minutes asking each other about humor — not performing humor, but discussing it:

  • What was the funniest thing you encountered in the past month?
  • What kind of humor do you find reliably unfunny or actively off-putting?
  • What comedian, writer, or content creator do you find funniest, and why?

After the conversation, individually write a 200-word reflection: Did you find humor compatibility (or incompatibility) with this person? How did the discussion of humor compare to actual joking as a way of assessing comedic compatibility?

Exercise 21.7 — Critical Review: Evolutionary Claims

Individual writing | 400–500 words

Locate one study that investigates Geoffrey Miller's fitness indicator hypothesis for humor (the chapter references Greengross and Miller, 2011, as a starting point). Read the abstract and methodology section carefully.

Write a critical review addressing: - What was the sample? What are its limitations (WEIRD bias, sample size, ecological validity)? - What did the study actually find, and how strong are the effect sizes? - What alternative explanations for the results does the study not adequately rule out? - Does the study confirm the evolutionary hypothesis, complicate it, or undermine it?

Practice the standard of methodological humility the chapter advocates.