Psychology students Stephine Sawyer '08 and psychology graduate Lauren Benfante '07 presented the results of their research on the Humor Research Team at the annual convention of the New England Psychological Association in Danbury, Connecticut, on Saturday, October 20.
Stephine Sawyer's research, "Expectations About Humor Affect Ratings: A Generalizable Effect with Social Implications," involved the ways that context and expectations about humorous material lead people to change their perceptions of that material. These effects relate to social issues involving what might constitute acceptable or unacceptable humor.
This research follows earlier work by the Humor Research Team that will appear in the journal, Humor: International Journal of Humor Studies. Other students from the Research Team coauthored the presentation, including Caitlin McCarthy '09, Marci Rigge '07, and Brittany Rigoli '08. Professor Barney Beins was also a coauthor on the presentation.
The Ithaca College chapter of the science honor society, Sigma Xi, provided funding for Stephine Sawyer's trip to the convention.
Lauren Benfante's research, "Self-Reflection and Sense of Humor: The Big Five Personality Characteristics and Humor," involved people's personality characteristics and how they relate to self-perception and objective measurements of sense of humor. The results indicated a reliable relationship between several aspects of personality and one's sense of humor. The results also showed that people's self-assessments of humor reflect general stereotypes of who is likely to have a good sense of humor. Professor Barney Beins coauthored this presentation.
