The politics of being funny: Humor styles, trait humorousness, and political orientations

Previous research has shown that the use and appreciation of humor are related to various political phenomena. However, to date very little has been done to examine the association between specific styles of humor and leftright political orientations, the relationship between humor styles and political engagement, or the issue of whether political orientations predict the degree to which one has the ability to appreciate and create humor in everyday life. Data on humor styles, personality, and political attitudes gathered from an adult, community sample (N = 452; 70 men and 382 women) were analyzed to address this gap in the literature. The results indicate that people with a left-wing orientation are more likely to use affiliative and aggressive humor styles, that a general interest in politics is associated with the use of affiliative and self-enhancing styles of humor and a rejection of an aggressive humor style, and that those on the political left are not inherently more humorous than those on the right. These findings suggest that disparagement theories of humor may be more applicable to liberals and those less likely to take an interest in politics, and that an examination of how humor is used and perceived can broaden our understanding of left-right political differences and political participation.