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Innovation is a major driving force in all earthly bio-entities, from the macro to the micro. That influence is transmitted by an immense variety of communicational modes, and may present an unlimited range of results. One expectable result is that the phenomenon conventionally indentified as SOCIETY must be redefined in recognition of its composition as an infinite assortment of networks involving an infinite range of participant entities. Keywords Innovation * Human * Play. Incongruity * Networks * Dogs * Society * Pets * Ants * Cells * Birds * Communication * Symbiosis, Innovation, serious or playful, is a central factor in the unfolding of the human experience, in our cultures and in each personal biography, in what we recognize as reality and [...]

IN 1846, EDWARD LEAR published among his first seventy-two picture-limericks the following celebration of a historical figure's courageous initiative and persistence. To claim that a Lear limerick means anything may [...]

This research was designed to assess the effects of contemporary political humor on information processing and persuasion, focusing specifically on two competing processes: processing motivation/counterargument distraction and message discounting. In Study 1, 212 undergraduates read one off our monologues by political comedian Bill Maher. Correlations and path modeling suggested that, in general, humor associated with greater source liking, closer information processing, and reduced counterargument, but also with greater message discounting. In Study 2, 204 undergraduates read one of four versions of a message based on the comedy of Chris Rock, manipulated to be more or less funny and attributed to the comedian or not. Results largely replicated those from Study 1. In addition, the humorous messages promoted more discounting than the serious messages, though they were processed with comparable depth. Although no more likely to be persuasive in the short run, the comedic transcript evidenced a sleeper effect after one week. In sum, the data were consistent with the notion that humorous messages might be processed carefully (but not critically) yet simultaneously discounted as irrelevant to attitudinal judgments. Implications for humor research and the sleeper effect are discussed. Keywords: Humor; Persuasion; Discounting; Counterargument; Message Processing

The effect of humor on performance and attendance at work has been a subject of academic discussions for a long time. People with different personal attributes perceive humor differently. As a result, they use humor with different frequency and react to humor in different ways. Personal factors, such as age, academic background, professional experience, and psychological preferences, are considered to affect the frequency of use and response to humor usage. Fifty-seven site engineers and eighty-four foremen participated in a study designed to determine the frequency of humor usage by site engineers and the response to humor by foremen. Results show that the personal characteristics of engineers, the situation under which humor is used, and the attitudes of foremen toward humor usage are important in determining the efficacy of humor. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)0742-597X(2006)22:2(81) CE Database subject headings: Construction industry; Personnel management; Employees.

The past research on ingratiation is integrated with research on humor in organizations to propose humor as a type of ingratiatory behavior in the workplace. The research emphasizes on how humor affects targets, including determinants of humor's effectiveness as an ingratiation strategy, and various outcomes of humor as an ingratiation tactic.

Spontaneous humour is an essential resource for organisations and can help managers manage change and people more effectively. Humour makes an organisation more responsive and helps bring down barriers between people. Humour strengthens trust and narrows the communication gulf between the leader and others. It also offers a low-risk way of introducing and debating new and even radical ideas.

The aim of this study is to explore the effect of exposure to sexist humor about women on men's self-reported rape proclivity. Earlier studies have shown that exposure to this type of humor increases rape proclivity and that funniness responses to jokes are a key element to consider. However, the role of aversiveness responses has not been studied. In a between-group design, 109 male university students are randomly exposed to sexist or nonsexist jokes. Participants are asked to rate the jokes according to their degree of funniness and aversiveness. Participants' levels of hostile and benevolent sexism were also measured. Results about the relationship between sexist attitudes and sexist humor and the relationship between sexist attitudes and rape proclivity are consistent with those of earlier studies. However, exposure to sexist humor affects rape proclivity only when aversiveness shown to this type of humor is low. The results are discussed in the light of the prejudiced norm theory.

HUCKABEE'S HUMOR: Mike Huckabee's rise to the top tier of Republican presidential candidates is in part due to his ability to throw off witty, self-deprecating one-liners that reveal his populist [...]