The Relation of Intelligence and Task Difficulty to Appreciation of Humor

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Abstract
Three predictions were generated from Suls' model of the appreciation of verbal humor: (a) intelligence is positively related to comprehension of humor; (b) difficulty of comprehension is positively related to appreciation; (c) intelligence and task difficulty interact in humor appreciation. One hundred sixty-five male college students (IQ estimated from the Vocabulary subtest of the WAIS) viewed cartoons in each of two conditions: (a) Ss rated captioned cartoons for funniness; (b) Ss selected one of four captions and rated the combination for funniness. IQ was found to be positively related to comprehension. Both positive and negative relationships between appreciation and task difficulty were found depending upon how task difficulty was defined. There was no significant interaction between intelligence and difficulty level. Complexity was positively related to appreciation, while difficulty of processing was negatively related to appreciation.

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