Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Humor Appreciation and Function Across the Lifespan

Humor is a familiar aspect of social life and contributes to important well-being outcomes such as life satisfaction. However, humor styles and the function of humor differ across age and culture. An examination of these nuances deepens our understanding of the role humor plays in our lives. Consistent with a lifespan developmental perspective and through the lens of positive psychology, we emphasize how understanding the varieties and functions of humor can inform researchers and practitioners interested in well-being outcomes. We review individual and group differences in humor appreciation and comprehension, as well as how these differences relate to the function of humor. First, there are age and cultural differences in humor appreciation, with different groups endorsing some humor styles more than others. These differences may be due to a variety of factors including motivational, sociopolitical, and cognitive demands. Second, we review the function of humor, and how this may change across the lifespan and differ across cultures. We also highlight some universal aspects of humor, such as its robust relationship with life satisfaction across age and culture. We introduce the possibility that age and culture interact to influence humor appreciation and function as an important avenue for future research.