doiSerbia

The relation of humor structure appreciation with sensation seeking and judgments of complex-abstract art and sophisticated music

Sulejmanov Filip (Cyril and Methodius University, Department of Psychology, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia)

The aim of the present study is two-fold. Firstly, the relation between sensation seeking and humor structure appreciation has been investigated (Carretero-Dios & Ruch, 2010), and also the association between humor structure appreciation and complex-abstract art has been reported (Ruch & Hehl, 1998). In that sense, this study aims to replicate previously reported findings. Second, the association between humor structure appreciation and sophisticated music (Rentfrow, Goldberg, & Levitin, 2011) was explored. Results obtained from 77 participants partially supported the predictions. Sensation seeking was negatively related with the aversiveness ratings of Nonsense humor, while pleasantness of complex-abstract art was negatively associated with funniness of Incongruity–Resolution humor and positively with the structure preference index. Aversiveness of Incongruity–Resolution humor correlated negatively with sophisticated music ratings. Finally, ratings on the abstract-art paintings and sophisticated musical excerpts were positively associated. Implications of the findings, limitations of this study and avenues for further research are examined.

Keywords: humor structure appreciation, sensation seeking, abstract art, sophisticated music