ABSTRACT
Over the past twenty-five years, social scientists have shown a growing interest in the study of humor. Much of the research done to date, however, has focused largely on the use and appreciation of jokes and joke routines to the exclusion of other humor-related behaviors, such as teasing, impersonation, and put-ons. Experimental and correlational studies of humor appreciation, for example, have typically investigated subjects' responses to jokes, cartoons, and riddles (e.g., Derks, 1992; Levine, 1969; Masten, 1986; McGhee, 1976a; Ruch, 1992; Shultz, 1972, 1974). Naturalistic studies of humor have likewise focused their attention primarily on jokes and joke telling (McDowell, 1979; Norrick, 1993; Sacks, 1974). Not surprisingly, then, many of the psychological and linguistic theories of humor tend to emphasize phenomena that are important for the performance and understanding of jokes, but may not be necessary nor sufficient for the appreciation of humor in general (see Koestler, 1964; Raskin, 1985; Suls, 1983; Wyer & Collins, 1992).
