The effects of relationship context and modality on ratings of funniness

Humor appreciation can be predicted with machine learning techniques

Humor research is supposed to predict whether something is funny. According to its theories and observations, amusement should be predictable based on a wide variety of variables. We test the practical value of humor appreciation research in terms of prediction accuracy. We find that machine learning methods (boosted decision trees) can indeed predict humor appreciation with an accuracy close to its theoretical ceiling. However, individual demographic and psychological variables, while replicating previous statistical findings, offer only negligible gains in accuracy. Successful predictions require previous ratings by the same rater, unless highly specific interactions between rater and joke content can be assessed. We discuss implications for humor research, and offer advice for practitioners designing content recommendations engines or entertainment platforms, as well as other research fields aiming to review their practical usefulness.

The Role of Humor Production and Perception in the Daily Life of Couples: An Interest-Indicator Perspective

In established relationships, are couples who are funny more satisfied with each other, or are satisfied couples more able to see the funny side of their partners? Much research has examined the evolutionary function of humor in relationship initiation, but not in relationship maintenance. Using a dyadic daily-diary study composed of college students from Singapore, results showed that relationship quality was positively associated with same-day humor production and perception. Importantly, and consistent with an interest-indicator perspective in which humor exchanges communicate relationship interest, relationship quality was also positively associated with next-day humor production and perception, and across both sexes. Results also indicated some support for a sexual-selection perspective in which humor exchanges predicted only same- and next-day satisfaction, but not commitment. Our findings suggest that humor can ultimately function as a strategy to monitor and maintain established relationships.

An Investigation of Patient Decisions to Use eHealth

eHealth service has received increasing attention. Patients can consult online doctors via the Internet, and then physically visit the doctors for further diagnosis and treatments. Although extant research has focused on the adoption of eHealth services, the decision-making process from online to offline health services still remains unclear. This study aims to examine patients’ decisions to use online and offline health services by integrating the extended valence framework and the halo effect. By analyzing 221 samples with online consultation experiences, the results show that trust significantly influences perceived benefits and perceived risks, while trust, perceived benefits, and perceived risks significantly influence the intention to consult. The intention to consult positively influences the intention to visit. Considering the moderating effects of payment types, the influence of perceived risks on the intention to consult is larger for the free group than for the paid group. The findings are useful to better understand patients’ decisions to use eHealth.

The Complexity of Jokes Is Limited by Cognitive Constraints on Mentalizing

Although laughter is probably of deep evolutionary origin, the telling of jokes, being language-based, is likely to be of more recent origin within the human lineage. In language-based communication, speaker and listener are engaged in a process of mutually understanding each other's intentions (mindstates), with a conversation minimally requiring three orders of intentionality. Mentalizing is cognitively more demanding than non-mentalizing cognition, and there is a well-attested limit at five orders in the levels of intentionality at which normal adult humans can work. Verbal jokes commonly involve commentary on the mindstates of third parties, and each such mindstate adds an additional level of intentionality and its corresponding cognitive load. We determined the number of mentalizing levels in a sample of jokes told by well-known professional comedians and show that most jokes involve either three or five orders of intentionality on the part of the comedian, depending on whether or not the joke involves other individuals' mindstates. Within this limit there is a positive correlation between increasing levels of intentionality and subjective ratings of how funny the jokes are. The quality of jokes appears to peak when they include five or six levels of intentionality, which suggests that audiences appreciate higher mentalizing complexity whilst working within their natural cognitive constraints.

Sex Differences in the Perceived Dominance and Prestige of Women With and Without Cosmetics

Women wearing cosmetics have been associated with a higher earning potential and higher status jobs. However, recent literature suggests that status can be accrued through two distinct routes: dominance and prestige. In two experiments, we applied a standardized amount of cosmetics to female faces using computer software. We then asked participants to rate faces with and without cosmetics for various traits including attractiveness, dominance, and prestige. Men and women both rated the faces with cosmetics added as higher in attractiveness. However, only women rated faces with cosmetics as higher in dominance, while only men rated them as higher in prestige. In a follow-up study, we investigated whether these enhanced perceptions of dominance from women were caused by jealousy. We found that women experience more jealousy toward women with cosmetics, and view these women as more attractive to men and more promiscuous. Our findings suggest that cosmetics may function as an extended phenotype and can alter other's perceptions differently depending on the perceiver's sex.

Effects of Humor Production, Humor Receptivity, and Physical Attractiveness on Partner Desirability

This study examined women's and men's preferences for humor production and humor receptivity in long-term and short-term relationships, and how these factors interact with physical attractiveness to influence desirability. Undergraduates viewed photographs of the opposite sex individuals who were high or low in physical attractiveness, along with vignettes varying in humor production and receptivity. Participants rated physical attractiveness and desirability for long-term and short-term relationships. The main findings were that individuals desired partners who were high in humor production and receptivity, though the effects were particularly pronounced for women judging long-term relationships. Moreover, humor production was more important than receptivity for women's ratings of male desirability. Notably, we also found that ratings of physical attractiveness were influenced by the humor conditions. These results are discussed in terms of the fitness indicator, interest indicator, and encryption hypotheses of the evolutionary functions of humor.

Vocal fundamental and formant frequencies affect perceptions of speaker cooperativeness

In recent years, the perception of social traits in faces and voices has received much attention. Facial and vocal masculinity are linked to perceptions of trustworthiness; however, while feminine faces are generally considered to be trustworthy, vocal trustworthiness is associated with masculinized vocal features. Vocal traits such as pitch and formants have previously been associated with perceived social traits such as trustworthiness and dominance, but the link between these measurements and perceptions of cooperativeness have yet to be examined. In Experiment 1, cooperativeness ratings of male and female voices were examined against four vocal measurements: fundamental frequency (F0), pitch variation (F0-SD), formant dispersion (Df), and formant position (Pf). Feminine pitch traits (F0 and F0-SD) and masculine formant traits (Df and Pf) were associated with higher cooperativeness ratings. In Experiment 2, manipulated voices with feminized F0 were found to be more cooperative than voices with masculinized F0(,) among both male and female speakers, confirming our results from Experiment 1. Feminine pitch qualities may indicate an individual who is friendly and non-threatening, while masculine formant qualities may reflect an individual that is socially dominant or prestigious, and the perception of these associated traits may influence the perceived cooperativeness of the speakers.