Funny?

Funny?
Funny?
question:
What makes things funny?

answer:
Benign violations
@PeterMcGraw & @CalebWarren
 Who are these guys?

Peter McGraw is an associate

professor of marketing and psychology
at the University of Colorado Boulder.
He directs the Humor Research Lab
(aka HuRL) and co-authored
The Humor Code.

Caleb Warren is an assistant

professor of marketing at Texas A&M,
where he studies what makes
things funny and what makes
things cool.
 Definition

Humor is a psychological
response characterized by:

•  an emotion - amusement
•  a judgment – that is funny
•  a behavior - laughter

 Rewards

Humor is:
- attractive
- pleasurable
- entertaining
"

Humor benefits:
- relationships (Wanted:
Good Sense of Humor )
- coping
- creativity
- eases criticism
 Risks
Humor can hurt people (e.g., bullying)
Failed humor attempts can create negative emotions

And Gilbert Gottfried loses his job as the Aflac duck.

The Benign Violation Theory

Are you a nerd? Read a few of our papers: #1, #2, and #3, 

and check out the paper by Thomas Veatch that inspired us.
 Violation condition

Violations threatens a person’s well-being,

identity, or normative belief structure

They likely originated as threats to physical
well-being, but because of evolution, now
include violations of culture, language, and logic.
 Humorists see
violations in comedy
“Humor 
“Comedy is a
is reason
man in trouble.” "
- Jerry Lewis gone mad.”
- Groucho Marx

“The secret source of humor

is not joy but sorrow; there 
is no humor in heaven.”"
- Mark Twain
 Physical violations
Threats to physical well-being are a nearly universal
source of humor. Even babies and non-human animals
laugh when physically threatened in a safe and playful
manner.
 Identity violations
Threats to a person or a group of people’s pride,
dignity, or sense of self.
 Cultural violations
Thing that breaks a social or cultural norm (given
the person generally accepts the norm as valid)

“Man marries pillow”

 Communication violations
Breaking a communication or linguistic norm (e.g.,
sarcasm, unusual accents, grammar errors, etc.)
 Logic violations
Anything that seems illogical or doesn’t make sense
 Benign condition
In order to be humorous, a violation needs
to seem acceptable, okay, or sensible.
 Benign: Harmless
It is easier to see a violation as benign if there are
no harmful consequences (yet).

m
 Benign: Distance
It is easier to see a violation as benign if it happened a
long time ago, afflicts someone else, or isn’t real.

Hypothetical violation

m
 Benign: Alternative norm
It is easier to see a violation as benign if the behavior
follows another norm, custom, or rule.

More benign Less benign

m
 Benign: Commitment
It is easier to see a violation as benign if you personally
don’t care about the person or the norm that the
violation threatens.

More benign Less benign

(for Americans) (for Americans)

m
 Simultaneity

In order to experience humor, people have to see both

the violation and benign interpretations simultaneously.
 Why this is funny
(to some people)

Punching your mom is a violation, but it is benign because

it is coming from a place of love (plus a kid wrote it).
Why this is funny
(to some people)

Wrong use of “best pick up line,” but

okay because it is technically correct.
 Why this is funny
(to some people)

It’s wrong to clean your mother’s vagina, but

it’s okay because the phone said it by accident.
 Case:
Tickling

Is a benign violation when

done by someone you trust.

Is purely benign when you
try to tickle yourself.

Is purely a violation when
a creepy stranger tickles you.
 Case:
Sarcasm
Sarcasm involves
saying one thing but
meaning the opposite,
thus violating a
common
conversational norm.

When successful, the
person making the
comment is able to
communicate a benign
intention through other
cues like an obviously
exaggerated tone.

 Case:
Slapstick
Slapstick creates painful
circumstances (violation) that
are not painful(benign), at
least for the observer.

The victim is not actually hurt
(it is often just an act) or the
viewer does not care
about the victim’s
well-being (or both).
 Why humor is
a positive experience
Realizing that something that seems threatening is
actually okay transforms a potentially negative
experience into a positive one (akin to relief).
 Why we laugh

Laughter likely originated as a primitive form of

communication signaling that an apparent threat
is benign.

Even rats seem to “laugh”
 How humor attempts fail
Situations that fail to be funny either depict a violation
that is not benign, or depict a benign situation that has
no violation.

Purely benign Purely a violation

(not funny – boring) (not funny – offensive)

m
 Individual &
cultural differences
Benign violations depend on physical vulnerabilities,
identity, values, culture, language, and understanding
of logic.

A baby farting at a fancy dinner is

normal to the baby, hilarious to
the rambunctious older brother,
and embarrassing to the mother
who wants to make a good
impression on others.
The importance of timing

“Humor is tragedy plus time.” - Mark Twain

 Time doesn’t make
everything funnier

Greater distance
reduces the threat of a
severe violation

Judged More Humorous (%)

helping make it a
benign violation.

But greater distance
also removes the
threat of a mild
violation, making
it purely benign.
 Same for
physical distance

Funnier
 Same for
physical distance

Funnier
 The dark side of comedy

Because violations underlie humor,

it can be used to bully and exclude people.

“Comedy is a man in trouble. – Jerry Lewis
The coping benefits of comedy

People facing great suffering, from Holocaust victims

to prisoners of war, found humor to be an important
way to cope.

Finding a way to laugh at your troubles by
transforming violations into benign violations
can help you feel better.

"Humor does not diminish the pain - it makes

the space around it get bigger.“ - Allen Klein
 Want to learn more?

Visit the Humor Research Lab’s

benign violation theory
page.

Watch a video - or two
- or three

Check out:
The Humor Code:
A Global Search for
What Makes Things Funny

 Coming soon:
Applications to business
•  Sales"
•  Social media"
•  Customer service"
•  Training"
•  Innovation"
•  Negotiations"
•  Employee engagement"
•  Change management"
 Thank you!

@PeterMcGraw @CalebWarren

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