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Thepresent study attempts to determine at the experiential level the number and nature of dimensions of response to humor. A sample of 50 male and 50 female adults judged 24 jokes and cartoons on 17 seven-point rating scales. The set of ratings was empirically selected from spontaneous responses of subjects to a set of humor Stimuli and represents a variety of aspects ofreactions to humor. Positive and negative responses were recorded, äs were judgments about perceived Stimulus properties and subjects' own feeling state. Factor analyses of the intercorrelations among the response scales yielded onepositive response factor ("exhilaration") and two negative response factors ( "indignation" and "boredom"). In all three factor s f the distinction between evaluation of Stimulus properties and one's feeling state turned out not to be ofimportance. The high loadings of the Stimulus ratings funny and witty, and of the feeling ratings exhilarated and amused, on a single factor representing all positive responses to humor are interpreted äs supporting the view of the emotion of exhilaration advanced by Ruch (1990). Conservatism correlated positively with indicators of exhilaration and negatively with indicators of boredom in response to incongruityresolution humor. Conservatism also correlated positively with indicators of indignation in response to sexual humor. The use of marker variables for all three response dimensions is recommended for future humor studies. It is suggested that supporting evidencefor the negative response dimensions from the study offacial expressions in response to humor is necessary. Exhilaration was recently introduced äs an emotion concept describing the behavioral, physiological, and experiential changes typically occurring in response to humor äs well äs to other Stimuli, such äs tickling or Humor 6-4 (1993), 363-384. 0933-1719/93/0006-0363 $2.00 © Walter de Gruyter 364 W. Ruch and S. Rath laughing gas (Ruch 1990). It was proposed that the term exhilaration be used according to its Latin root (A//ßra=cheerful) to denote either the process of making cheerful or the temporary rise in cheerful state (Ruch 1993). This was necessary since contemporary dictionaries show that exhilarate has two meanings: "To make cheerful, laugh, merry, glad, or joyous," and "to enliven" or "to make excited." The latter definition is de-emphasized in the proposed usage of the term. Ruch (1990) reviewed the pertinent literature describing the three levels of exhilaration. His description of exhilaration behavior covered the facial behavior, gestures, and posture associated with smiling and laughing. Investigations of the physiology of exhilaration consider the identification of the physiological response pattern during exhilaration äs well äs the prerequisite neurophysiological conditions. The former includes such measures äs the respiratory pattern, phonation and articulation, and cardiovascular, skeletomuscular, electrodermal, and electrocortical activity during smiling and laughing, while the latter focuses on the brain structures and neurohormonal activity involved. As with other emotions (Frijda 1986), the study of emotional experience includes the awareness of one's own actions and action tendencies, of physiological changes, and of the feeling structure, along with the awareness of the situation's meaning structure for the person and the perception of the properties of the exhilaration-inducing Stimulus. The concept of exhilaration fully incorporates what has traditionally been understood äs the so-called "humor response," but it also goes well beyond it to provide an explicit emotional foundation. Typically, "humor response" refers to the perception of a Stimulus äs being "funny," although it also sometimes includes overt responses like smiling and laughter. However, the accompanying physiological changes, äs well äs other elements of emotional experience, typically are not included. Physiological processes have been studied, but the focus here has generally been on arousal changes underlying the processing of the humor Stimulus, that is, the changes preceding rather than accompanying exhilaration. Basically, "humor response" is a concept of cognitive experience, regardless of whether it is or is not accompanied by smiling or laughter. The failure to perceive a need to incorporate smiling or laughing and the perception of the Stimulus äs funny into one concept might have resulted from two facts. First, humor Stimuli can be found funny without being accompanied by smiling or laughter. Second, smiling and laughing and funniness ratings were frequently observed to have only a moderate Humor appreciation 365 positive correlation with each other (typically between .30 and .40; McGhee 1977). However, recent research has shown that contraction of the smiling muscles in positive affective states can occur at such a low level that they are not noticeable at the surface of the face (Schwartz, Brown, and Ahern 1980). Furthermore, the low intercorrelations reported between smiling and laughing and funniness have been shown to be most likely the result of methodological artifacts; the real size of the strength of the association is greater than .70 (Ruch 1990). Thus, the concept of exhilaration broadens the scope of responses to humor to be studied. However, evidence that the elements added are an integral part of the responses induced by humor has not yet been provided. In particular, it has to be demonstrated that the perception of the Stimulus äs funny is associated with a change in feeling state. In other words, does the degree of perceived funniness of a cartoon or joke go along with the degree of feit exhilaration? Subjects in humor experiments readily judge the Stimulus in terms of degree of funniness. Can they just äs easily focus on their feeling state and judge the amount of amusement or exhilaration experienced? Finally, is this judgment of exhilaration predictably associated with the expressive behavior? Preliminary results supportive of a close link between ratings of humor Stimuli and subjective feeling states were obtained in a study of 110 Austrian adults who rated 48 jokes and cartoons on five seven-point scales (Ruch 1981). The ratings covered the degree of funniness of the joke/cartoon, induced exhilaration, perceived urge to laugh, like/dislike, and rejection (that is, a judgment that "this is not really humor"). A three mode factor analysis was performed to determine the number and nature of humor categories, response dimensions, and person dimensions. The analysis of the five scales yielded a strong "exhilaration" factor, which was loaded by the ratings of exhilaration, laughter, funniness, and liking. Thus, evaluations of the Stimulus properties, self-report of laughter, and the subjective feeling state or experience were closely associated. A minor "indignation" factor was also obtained, marked mainly by the rejection rating and also slightly by the dislike pole of the like/ dislike scale. This factor was nearly orthogonal to the first one. Thus, there was no bipolar factor of positive versus negative responses; rather, the negative qualities were covered by a separate factor. This resembles the Undings of research on moods, where positive and negative affectivity were found to be orthogonal factors (Watson and Tellegen 1985). 366 W. Ruch and S. Rath The Ruch (1981) study has several limitations. The dimensions to be rated were selected by the experimenter and were not based on the naturally occurring responses of a larger sample of subjects. Thus, it is not guaranteed that these dimensions reflect the language subjects would use to describe their immediate response to the jokes and cartoons. The failure of this study to adequately represent affective responses of a negative quality resulted in the negative response factor being inadequately defined. But the positive response scales might also be biased; for example, none of them focused on qualities like "clever" or "complex." The present study was designed to analyze the structure of a larger set of possible responses to humor at the experiential level. The set of ratings used was not determined by the experimenter but was based on the spontaneous responses to the humor Stimuli given by a small sample of subjects in a pilot study. Self-reports of laughter or smiling were not obtained. Only self-report data related to feeling states or properties of the Stimulus were obtained. Also, terms for ratings derived from specific theories (superior, relief, etc.) äs used by Wicker, Thorelli, Barron, and Ponder (1981) and Pollio and Talley (1991) will be avoided unless they are used in everyday language to describe one's spontaneous response to humor. A selected set of dimensions derived from the pilot study will then be given to a larger sample of subjects with the instruction to judge humor Stimuli on all of the scales. The intercorrelations between the scales will be determined, and factor analyses will be performed on the resulting matrix to determine the number and nature of response dimensions underlying this set of ratings. The jokes and cartoons to be rated are typical representatives of a comprehensive taxonomy of humor, consisting of the categories of incongruity-resolution humor, nonsense humor, and sexual humor (Ruch 1992). Thus, the results of this study should be highly generalizable. Separate factor analyses will be performed, based on the data for each type of humor, to estimate the stability of the factor pattern across the different humor categories. Finally, the degree of conservatism/liberalism will also be assessed. This personality construct has been shown to be more highly correlated than any other with the funniness of incongruityresolution humor. The use of several response scales will allow an estimation of whether this relationship is restricted to the perception of funniness or whether it also covers other aspects of the affe

The nature of humor appreciation: toward an integration of perception of stimulus properties and affective experience