A cross-cultural study of humor appreciation: Italy and Germany

The present study examines the cross-national stability of a factor analytically derived taxonomy of jokes and cartoons. A sample of 100 female and 48 male Italian adults responded to Italian translations of the 3 WD humor test (Ruch 1983) which is aimed at measuring funniness and aversiveness of incongruity-resolution, nonsense, and sexual humor. The results were compared with that of a German sample of 98 female and 50 male adults. Funniness and degree of controversiality of these humor categories were compared in Italy and Germany, and a comparison of the mean humor appreciation profile was undertaken. The results showed that the taxonomy derived from German and Austrian samples can be applied to Italian samples as well; the factor structures were very similar both at the level of the factors themselves and at the level of individual jokes and cartoons. Furthermore, comparable rank orders of perceived quality and controversiality of jokes and cartoons of the sexual humor category were obtained for both samples. The Italian sample scored higher in appreciation of sexual humor and lower in funniness of nonsense humor than the German sample.