A Quasiexperimental Study of the Effect of Humor Preference and other Variables on Understanding/Appreciation of Editorial Satire

Abstract

Students indicated their humor preference (nonsense vs philosophical) and personal data on 7 other independent variables, then read three satirical editorials and, after each, checked which of five statements was the thesis intended by the author. They also rated each satire on interestingness and funniness. The number of satires' theses correctly identified was the dependent variable (understanding) and the interestingness and funniness scales were the measures of appreciation. The only significant value of chi-squared for understanding was by Greek/nonGreek status. A correlation matrix of the funniness and interestingness scores supported earlier evidence of a general “appreciation of satire” factor by college students.