Hooked on humour : achieving rapport in humorous interactions between men and women who are friends

Abstract

Based on analyses of recorded real-life social interactions among English men and women friends living in England, this study shows how crucial it is to use a range of communication behaviours to express humour and maintain rapport. Men and women are keen to learn how to improve and preserve their social relationships (Mulac, Bradac and Gibbons, 2001). However, the immense literature on human communication ignores the multifaceted and positive force of humour in the social interactions of friends (Lynch, 2002). In addition, there is an absence of firm theoretical principles on which to develop counselling sessions and teach individuals to develop humour skills. Therefore, this study examines how participants incorporate humour in their ongoing conversation to achieve rapport in face-to-face social interaction in mixed-gender groups. This investigation is situated within the fields of human communication and humour and gender research. The necessarily communicative approach involved qualitative data collection and description, namely conversation analysis (CA) and ethnography, complemented by quantitative analysis. Communication context, that is, interactants' attitudes and personality, their history, background knowledge, and how they relate to each other, are shown to play an important role in preserving friendships and maintaining rapport. Light is thrown on specific behaviours that could help men and women nurture their friendships and it is explained why there is a need for individuals to view humour as a positive force in their communication with one another. It is argued that misunderstandings may arise if men and women do not understand the way each gender uses humour. Thus, men and women could empower themselves by objectively examining how they interact, challenge the perceptions each may have about their own communication, and gain a more thorough understanding of verbal and non-verbal strategies for facilitating humour. By harmonising their verbal and non-verbal behaviours, men and women can use humour not only to express affiliation and commonality but also as a strategy for testing the boundaries of gender in a non-threatening way, to minimise differences, and to discover more about the opposite gender. In time and with further academic inquiry, humour could be acknowledged as a critical communication tool for establishing and sustaining relationships. The hope is that this study could be a catalyst for future research on promoting humour as a key element of daily social interaction.

Date of Award	2008
Original language	English