Functions of humor in the conversations of men and women

Humor can serve numerous functions in discourse. This paper provides a tool for categorizing functions of humor, and uses this tool to highlight stati stically some interesting patterns in the humor of New Zealand men and wome n. The humor occurring in 18 New Zealand friendship groups was analyzed accord ing to function and these functions were organized into a taxonomy. Functio ns of humor occurring in such groups can be classified under the three broa d labels of solidarity-based, power-based and psychological functions. Furt her distinctions within these labels are also made. The distribution of these functions within the friendship groups was analyz ed. The sample consisted of both mixed groups and male and female single-se x groups. Log-linear modelling revealed the women much more likely to share funny personal stories to create solidarity, whereas the men used other st rategies to achieve the same goal. They were more likely to reminisce about shared experiences or highlight similarities to create solidarity within t he group. While teasing was used in single-sex groups both to create power and solidarity, this behavior reduced markedly in mixed groups. (C) 2000 El sevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.