Perceived personality associations with differences in sense of humor: Stereotypes of hypothetical others with high or low senses of humor

Abstract

Having a high sense of humor has been found to be a general social asset, but there has been no assessment of the speci®c qualities that are assumed to be associated with variations in sense of humor. Two studies were conducted to examine the assumptions observers would make about the personal qualities associated with varying levels of sense of humor. In the ®rst study, participants (150 female and 86 male college students) were asked to use a set of adjectives to rate individuals described as varying in sense of humor. The overall pattern of results indicated that, compared to persons described as``typical'' or``below average'' in sense of humor, individuals described as``well above average'' were rated more highly on socially desirable adjectives, lower on socially undesirable adjectives, but no dierent on adjectives re¯ecting social sensitivity. In the second study, participants (120 female and 49 male college students) were asked to use a measure of the``big ®ve'' personality traits to rate individuals described as varying in sense of humor. Results indicated that individuals described as being`w ell above average'' in sense of humor were perceived as lower in neuroticism and higher in agreeableness than``typical'', or``below average'' sense of humor others. The ®ndings of these two studies con®rm the importance of a high sense of humor as a social asset, and provide some clarity concerning the likely underlying bases for the positive expectations sense of humor generates in observers.A great deal of attention has been directed toward understanding sense of humor as a personal characteristic (e.g., . A variety of measures have been developed to quantify this quality and dierentiate it from other traits (

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