ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the influence of different types of motivation on the appreciation of humor, which stems from the classic psychoanalytic formulations put forth by Sigmund Freud. In brief, he postulated that the pleasure derived from responding positively to humorous material is a result of gratification of unconscious wishes or motivations that would remain repressed under ordinary circumstances. A mixed analysis of variance design was employed in which all subjects (Ss) in each of three experimental conditions were given the same three-component humor test. In the first experimental condition, the experimenter attempted to arouse hostility and anger in the Ss. The second condition attempted to arouse sexual motivation following an approach suggested by Clark. In the third condition the S was given the humor test immediately after being brought into the experimental situation. The sexual and aggressive motivations that were suppressed in the experimental conditions were expressed in increased appreciation for the sexual and aggressive content in the humor material.
