HUMOR ASSESSMENT OF CORPORATE MANAGERS AND HUMOR SEMINAR AND PERSONALITY STUDENTS

In this descriptive study samples from the Revised Sense of Humor Ques tionnaire (SHQ) (Svebak 1974) were obtained from 34 program managers o f a major international corporation, 29 humor seminar participants, an d 26 undergraduate personality students. The managers and the undergra duates were also administered the Humor Assessment Test (HUMA II) of H ester and Ruxton (1988). On the L scale of the SHQ women showed a grea ter tendency to enjoy comical situations than men. Humor seminar subje cts revealed a greater overall sense of humor than the program manager s or the undergraduates as well as a greater degree of sensitivity to humorous stimuli in the environment (the M scale of the SHQ). The HUMA II indicated that the undergraduates had used humor more in the past week than did the program managers, although the latter were very inte rested in adding humor at work and in their relationships. None of the students wanted to add humor to their nonromantic relationships. Thei r most frequently mentioned areas were school, work, and ''love life'' . The managers and undergraduates both chose males as preferred comedi ans and funny acquaintances, but the groups differed in that the predo minantly male managers laughed most often with a male, while the predo minantly female students laughed most often with a female. The student s were more likely to see their parents as appreciators/initiators of humor than were the managers and were also less likely to see their fa thers as humorless than were the managers.