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The current analysis deconstructs creativity and humor from a cul- tural perspective. We first identify two key commonalities between crea- tivity and humor: Both (a) involve appropriate violations of norms and (b) require cognitive flexibility. Because norms and cognitive styles dif- fer across cultures, we systematically analyze how Eastern and W...
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“Where now? Who now? When now? Unquestioning. I, say I. Unbelieving. Questions, hypotheses.”. It is with this deconstructive note that Samuel Beckett opens his book “The Unnamable”. Before him, Espinoza had already inaugurated this indeterminacy around the body and man: “The fact is that no one has determined, until now, what the body can do.”. Fai...
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... Humour in the Western context and humour in the Indian context differ in various aspects, including cultural influences, comedic styles, and the societal role of laughter. While both traditions share the universal purpose of bringing joy and entertainment, they express these intentions in unique ways (Lu et al., 2019;Yue et al., 2016). Western humour often reflects individualism, sarcasm, and a penchant for self-deprecating comedy. ...
Humour is a universal phenomenon that offers several physiological and psychological benefits across cultures. The objectives of this study were to examine the relationships between daily hassles, humour and well-being; and to investigate the moderating effect of humour on the relationship between hassles and well-being. A correlational design was adopted to collect data from 644 participants (men = 300, women = 344), aged between 18 and 58 years using purposive and snowballing sampling techniques. The Daily Hassles Scale, Sense of Humour Questionnaire (SHQ-R) and the Personal Well-Being Index—Adult (PWI-A) were administered to the sample. The self-report measures were appropriately scored and the collective data were analyzed. Statistical analyses revealed a positive relationship between sense of humour and well-being. A negative relationship was observed between sense of humour and hassles; and between well-being and hassles. Further, sense of humour was found to be moderating the relationship between daily hassles and well-being. This study highlights the role of humour in softening the impact of hassles on the well-being of the Indian population. This strengthens the construct of humour in the context of positive psychology.
... Similarly, a tight culture also emphasizes social norms and ethical behavior (Gelfand et al., 2011), which may also lead adolescents with high cognitive flexibility to engage in socially normative behaviors such as PEB. In cultures with low uncertainty avoidance, individuals are more willing to take risks and adapt to new environments (Lu et al., 2019). They, therefore, have high cognitive flexibility to adopt different perspectives on environmental issues. ...
... This contributes to the enhancement of PEB in adolescents. Conversely, in cultures with high uncertainty avoidance, rules are rigid and archaic and may impede individual cognitive flexibility (Husted, 2000;Lu et al., 2019). Therefore, adolescents with high cognitive flexibility may not follow such social norms to implement PEB. ...
Research has shown that an individual's cognitive flexibility predicts their pro-environmental behavior (PEB). However, the cross-country variations in this relationship are not yet clear. Using an international dataset from PISA 2018, this study examined the relationship between cognitive flexibility and PEB and the role of cultural factors in the above relationship among 368,045 adolescents from 60 societies. The results showed that adolescents' cognitive flexibility positively and significantly predicted their PEB. However, the observed cognitive flexibility-PEB relationship does not operate in a sociocultural vacuum. The study identified individualism and uncertainty avoidance weakened adolescents' cognitive flexibility-PEB association; whereas cultural tightness strengthened this association. Therefore, the findings of this study extend our understanding by illuminating not just the role of individual cognitive processes, such as cognitive flexibility, in shaping adolescents' PEB, but also emphasizing the critical interplay between individual cognitive capabilities and the overarching sociocultural context. The nuanced interdependence between these factors provides rich ground for future research in the realm of cognitive and environmental psychology.
... In their review of prior studies on cross-cultural humour, Jiang et al. (2019) point out that research has shown there is a clear divide between Eastern and Western cultures with regard to how they regard humour. Thus, while Western cultures value humour as a positive asset in self-presentation, identity construction and interaction with others, Eastern cultures such as the Chinese tend to see it in a less positive light (see also Chen and Martin 2007;Lu et al. 2019;among others). However, it is important to note that this contrast between Eastern and Western cultures poses serious limitations. ...
This article explores humour employed as a self-presentation device in the biography section of Tinder profiles belonging to heterosexual users (male and female) in their 20s based in Spain and the United Kingdom. The main purpose of this investigation is to find out if male or female users are more prone to resorting to humour in their Tinder profiles and if the culture within which this interaction takes place also affects the frequency of use of humorous remarks. More specifically, we intend to answer the following research questions: (i) To what extent does gender influence the use of humour as an online self-presentation strategy?, (ii) To what extent does the users’ cultural context play a role in the frequency and way humour is employed? To that purpose, a total of 455 Tinder profiles from both Spanish (224) and UK (231) users was gathered with the help of a bot, Tinderbotz, and it was then analysed quantitatively and qualitatively with the assistance of the software program Atlas.ti. The results show that UK users favour humour as a self-presentation strategy in a significantly higher percentage than their Spanish counterparts, independently of their gender. Thus, while Spanish-speakers may regard humour as a risky mechanism that can backfire, UK users embrace it as part of the Anglo-Saxon ethos of not taking oneself too seriously.
... In addition, empirical research has compared the artistic creativity of German and Chinese students and found that German participants produced more creative and esthetically pleasing artwork than their Chinese counterparts (Yi et al., 2013). Likewise, spending a year abroad in another country may enhance one's creative development in music composition, painting, or writing Lu et al., 2019). In addition, multilingual individuals are more able to differentiate various sounds, such as musical sounds (Krizman et al., 2012). ...
... First, ME was associated with domain-specific creativity related to the art domain, including visual art, music, dance, creative writing, and humor, but was not associated with the scientific domain. Previous studies have found that overseas students and bilingual speakers exhibit enhanced artistic esthetics and perform better in music recognition (Krizman et al., 2012;Lu et al., 2019;Yi et al., 2013). To our knowledge, domain-specific creativity in the arts requires relatively diverse experiences, consistent with accepting 6 multiple cultures, but scientific creativity requires more professional expertise and rigorous logical thinking (Huang et al., 2017;Meng et al., 2020). ...
Previous studies have demonstrated the benefits of multicultural experience (ME), especially its impact on creativity. However, the neural association of ME in the brain and its effect on domain-specific creativity is unclear. In this study, we selected the ventral medial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC), inferior parietal lobule, and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) as the regions of interest according to the social cognition system (self-representation) and nonsocial system (cognitive closure) in culture. Furthermore, we used a seed-based connectivity approach with the resting-state functional MRI (rsFC) method to explore the neural basis of ME and its relationship with domain-specific creativity in 232 college students. The behavioral results showed that ME was positively correlated with domain-specific creativity in visual arts, dance, music, creative writing, and humor. Furthermore, individual differences in ME were negatively correlated with the connectivity strength of the VMPFC and middle temporal gyrus (MTG)/superior occipital gyrus and the connectivity strength of the IFG and left lingual gyrus (LING)/right superior temporal gyrus. Moderation analysis indicated that strong VMPFC and MTG connectivity enhanced the relationship between ME and creative writing, and weak IFG and left LING connectivity enhanced the relationship between ME and visual arts. These results suggest that rsFC between the prefrontal lobe and temporal and occipital lobes reflects the neural basis of ME and further influences the link between ME and domain-specific creativity. In summary, the present findings demonstrate the functional connectivity basis of ME and provide neural evidence for the benefit and condition of ME on domain-specific creativity.
... When we laugh together in a group, better group dynamics and coordination among group members is achieved, which directly affects interaction patterns and increases the level of attainment of the common goal. Strategically used humour has been shown to lead to higherorder thinking, increased creativity, and deep knowledge relating to subject matter among students (Lovorn 2008, Chen, Chen and Roberts 2019, Lu et al. 2019, despite the complexities related to its multifaceted nature and hesitancy among teachers to use it (Morrison 2008). ...
The overall aim of this book is to view humour, as a specific type of language use, in the social and cultural context and describe some of its main features both in the theoretical and applied sense. Written from a cultural linguistic perspective, the main idea behind this book is to deconstruct the patterns on which multimodal humour is based, to determine how it gets its full potential in social interactions, and to explore how we can apply these findings in the domains of translation and education. Hopefully, this would represent a step towards a more holistic understanding of underlying humour mechanisms, its production and comprehension.
... The use of humor by leaders could serve as useful and valuable information for team members, and team members adapt their behaviors to the team context correspondingly. On the one hand, leader humor in social interactions signals the proper norm violation, which makes team members feel acceptable about regulation non-compliance at work (Lu et al., 2019;Yam et al., 2019). Since challenging old rules and taking further steps beyond extant norms lie at the heart of team creativity, leader humor, as the exemplar act of rule breaking, sends out the signal to help team members engage more in creative activities (Anderson et al., 2014;Hughes et al., 2018;Lee et al., 2020;Salancik & Pfeffer, 1978;Zalesny & Ford, 1990). ...
... Since challenging old rules and taking further steps beyond extant norms lie at the heart of team creativity, leader humor, as the exemplar act of rule breaking, sends out the signal to help team members engage more in creative activities (Anderson et al., 2014;Hughes et al., 2018;Lee et al., 2020;Salancik & Pfeffer, 1978;Zalesny & Ford, 1990). On the other hand, leader humor also signals the cognitive flexibility in processing information and analyzing issues (Lu et al., 2019). In this sense, leader humor delivers the information that tackling problems from multiple perspectives and flexible angles is feasible and adaptable for team members, which could further accelerate the creative thinking and creative solutions proposed by team members in the team context (Anderson et al., 2014;Hughes et al., 2018;Lee et al., 2020;Lu et al., 2019;Salancik & Pfeffer, 1978;Zalesny & Ford, 1990). ...
... On the other hand, leader humor also signals the cognitive flexibility in processing information and analyzing issues (Lu et al., 2019). In this sense, leader humor delivers the information that tackling problems from multiple perspectives and flexible angles is feasible and adaptable for team members, which could further accelerate the creative thinking and creative solutions proposed by team members in the team context (Anderson et al., 2014;Hughes et al., 2018;Lee et al., 2020;Lu et al., 2019;Salancik & Pfeffer, 1978;Zalesny & Ford, 1990). Thus, we suggest: ...
Although leader humor has been widely advocated in the workplace, the influence of leader humor on team creative outcomes remains to be explored. Drawing on social information processing theory and the superiority theory of humor, we proposed that leader humor, as the origin of relevant and significant information for team members, could nurture team psychological safety and subsequent team creativity. Moreover, due to the ambiguity nature of leader humor as well as the duality function of leader humor, leader behavioral integrity and leader humor differentiation act as the boundary conditions for the utility of leader humor in teams. Specifically, leader behavioral integrity strengthened, but leader humor differentiation weakened the positive relationship between leader humor and team psychological safety, as well as the positive indirect relationship between leader humor and team creativity through team psychological safety. Using a sample of 380 members and 110 team leaders, we found support for the first-stage moderated mediation model. Theoretical and managerial implications about leader humor are discussed.
... It impinges on a shared language or set of cultural norms to function . Humor as a culture-bound component is an indispensable part of L2 acquisition, and understanding the target language's culture is no exception (Lu et al., 2019). Studies on the use of humor showed that being linguistically competent was not necessarily pragmatically sufficient for L2 learners to perceive humor attached to a specific culture (Florence Ma, 2012;Olajoke, 2013). ...
The advancement of information and communication technologies has led to an increasing use of conversational chatbots in the learning and teaching sector, especially for the second language (L2) acquisition. In the field of second language acquisition, the use of AI chatbots has been explored, mainly studying pedagogical approaches. However, there is a limited study in the development of empathetic strategies for dealing with learners' emotional discomfort, the impact of humor and the consideration of learners' cultural backgrounds. Thus, this study reviews the existing studies on AI second language (L2) chatbots to investigate the development of empathetic strategies for enhancing learners' learning outcomes. To achieve the aim of this study, prior studies from 2012 and 2022 of several popular databases, including Web of Science, ProQuest, IEEE and ScienceDirect are collected and analyzed. This study found that three dimensions such as cultural, empathetic and humorous dimensions have a positive influence on the application of AI L2 chatbots for enhancing learners' learning outcomes. This study also found that the development of an AI chatbot in L2 education has plenty of room for improvement. Several recommendations are made for enhancing the use of AI L2 chatbots which include integrating cross-cultural empathetic responses in conversational L2 chatbots, identifying how learners perceive and react to the learning content, and investigating the effects of cross-culture humor on learners’ language proficiency.
... The classical incongruity-resolution (IR) theory of humor holds that the cognitive processing of humor appreciation/comprehension involves detecting the inconsistency rst and then explaining the inconsistency from a new perspective, similar to breaking the mindset in insight. Empirical studies have veri ed similar cognitive processing between humor comprehension and insight (Kozbelt & Nishioka, 2010;Lu, et al., 2019). However, little is known about the impact of humor appreciation or comprehension on insight. ...
Some questionnaires and behavioral studies have examined the effect of humor on insight. However, the time course of the effects of humor on the stage of insight remains unclear. This study explored the effect of humor comprehension on insight with event-related potential (ERP) technology using verbal humorous jokes and two-part allegorical sayings. The results show that the average amplitude of the novel semantic association (creative solution) in N400 (350−450 ms) is significantly larger than that of the ordinary semantic association (ordinary solution) in the two priming groups (humor priming and non-humor priming). The amplitude in the LPC (600−900 ms) of novel semantic associations in the humor priming group was significantly smaller than that of the non-humor priming group. The results suggest that the effect of humor comprehension on insight is not reflected in the early breaking of the mindset process of insight but the formation of the novel association process.
... A relatively consistent conclusion has been reached that there are cognitive similarities between humor processing and creative cognition (Amir et al., 2015;Kozbelt et al., 2010;Lu et al., 2019;Perchtold-Stefan et al., 2020). According to the generation-selection theory of creative cognition (Bink & Marsh, 2000), the extensive activation of information and inhibition of irrelevant information are key cognitive processes in creative cognition. ...
Humor is a lubricant of interpersonal relationships and is regarded as an important quality of individual creativity. Previous studies have mainly focused on passive humor appreciation and comprehension but ignored active humor generation, especially the cognitive process of humor generation. Based on the hypothesis that humor generation is similar to creative cognition, this study used humorous two-part allegorical sayings to explore whether humor generation involves the cognitive processes of the activation and inhibition of information. The experiment manipulated the duration (5/10 s) of the presentation of the first part of humorous two-part allegorical sayings, which are called “yinyu,” and the type of subthreshold probe words (humorous probe words/usual probe words). The results showed that the interaction between the duration of the presentation of yinyu and the type of subthreshold probe words was significant; the correct number of humorous probe words reported was significantly lower than that of usual probe words when the yinyu was presented for 5 s, which reflected the widespread activation of information. The correct number of humorous probe words reported was significantly higher than that of usual probe words when the yinyu was presented for 10 s, which suggested the inhibition of non-humorous information. This study revealed the dynamic cognitive processes of humor generation and verified possible cognitive similarities between humor generation and creative cognition.
... Even though there are many humor styles classifications (see Heintz & Ruch, 2019 for a review) one of the most used is the four types of humor proposed by Martin et al. (2003) that differentiates the use of humor among self-enhancing, affiliative, selfdefeating, and aggressive humor. From this perspective, several studies have shown differences in the way in which humor is used between collectivist and individualistic oriented societies (Kazarian & Martin, 2006, Hiranandani &Yue, 2014Lu et al., 2019). ...
Previous research has stated a relationship between sexist ideologies and humour appreciation. However, most research has been done in North America and Europe. In the present study, we aimed to approach in an exploratory way to the social perceptions of sexist humour in Costa Rica. Data was gathered through an online survey, participants (N = 323; 220 females) completed measures to characterize expressions of sexist humour. The main measures included perceived funniness, frequency and means of exposure, and perceived offensiveness, as well as completing the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI). Overall, previous exposure to this kind of humour was remarkably high. No significant differences were observed between women's and men's perceptions of the frequency, means and places of exposure, but emotional and behavioral reactions to sexist humour were gender-based. Women reported higher displeasure, more confrontation and felt angrier and more offended than men when exposed to this type of humour. Data support existing evidence of the relationship with sexist ideology. Specifically, hostile sexism was found to be a significant predictor of perceived funniness and offensiveness of the sexist jokes. An interaction effect between hostile sexism and the sex of participants was found, showing that as hostile sexism increased, perceived offensiveness decreased, but more rapidly for men. Results are discussed considering the practical implications and limitations, as well as the need for more research in the Latin American context.
