Short-term mood change, perceived funniness, and the effect of humor stimuli

Two studies investigating humor are reported in this article. The first study demonstrated a reduction in ratings of state anxiety following exposure to a humor stimulus. Reduction in ratings of state depression depended on participants' initial scores and the perceived funniness of the humor stimulus. The second study demonstrated reductions in the perceived funniness of cartoons when participants identified with the protagonist but only, it seemed, when the protagonist was also a "victim" in the cartoon scenario. Issues associated with humor are complex, but the present results suggest that humor may be of benefit when short-term mood changes are desirable, if individual differences are taken into account.