Humour in Romantic Relationships

Humour is a valuable resource for the formation, maintenance, and success of a romantic relationship. The positive aspects of humour lead people to share their feelings of happiness, make the relationship with the partner easier, and help the expression of tenderness towards the partner. Humour also acts as a mechanism of coping and conflict resolution, or as a tool for forgiveness. However, despite the growing literature on humour in romantic relationships, its role in short-term and long-term romantic relationships is not yet sufficiently understood. Therefore, this chapter reviews the classical and more recent findings on humour as an important ingredient for the formation and functionality of human romantic relationships. Our aim is to offer the first comprehensive literature review of humour in romantic relationships by analysing and synthesizing: (a) the main theoretical approaches of humour in the context of romantic relationships, (b) the empirical research regarding the use of humour in romantic relationships, (c) the links between different aspects of humour, relationship formation and relationship maintenance, and (d) the functions of humour in romantic relationships across cultures. Finally, this chapter suggests some clinical implications and future research directions.