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TRANSCRIPT
Advising is a Joke
How the Theory and Philosophy of
Humor can Influence Advising Practices
John Strickland
Advisor, Exploratory
Florida State University
Why?
• Academic Advisor – 3 years experience
• Stand-up Comedian –8 years experience
“11 years of advising/comedy experience”
--Math
What is Humor?
a) a normal functioning bodily semifluid or fluid (such as the blood or lymph)
b) physiology : a secretion (such as a hormone) that is an excitant of activity
a) that quality which appeals to a sense of the ludicrous or absurdly incongruous : a funny or amusing quality.
b) the mental faculty of discovering, expressing, or appreciating the ludicrous or absurdly incongruous : the ability to be funny or to be amused by things that are funny
The Functions of Humor
Positive
• Coping w/ Stress
• Group Cohesion
• Social Influence
What else?
Negative
• Derision
• Social Isolation
What else?
Theories of Humor
• Incongruity
Theory“The most common kind
of joke is that in which
we expect one thing and
another is said.”
• Relief Theory“Buildup of tension is
inherent to all humorous
scenarios and the
perception of humor is
directly related to the
release of that tension.”
• Superiority
Theory“Laughter expresses
feelings of superiority
over other people or over
a former state of
ourselves.”
“Nothing produces laughter more than a surprising
disproportion between that which one expects and that which
one sees.” – Blaise Pascal
(Friend, 2002)
Benign Violation Theory
• Humor occurs when
something seems
wrong, unsettling or
threatening, but
simultaneously seems
okay, acceptable, or
safe.
(McGraw & Warner, 2014)
Benign ViolationFunny
Benign Violation in Action
• Why did the sloth fall out of the tree?– It died.
• Benign Factors– Falling out of a tree
• Happens more often than sloths like to admit
– Death• Affects 100% of sloths
• Violating Factors– The sloth dies.
• Other options?– Slipping
– Falling Asleep
(McGraw & Warner, 2014)
Anatomy of a Joke
• Every good joke has a:
– Set-up
– Punchline
Can Anything Be Funny?
• Yes?
• No?
• Depends
– Setting
– Delivery
– Target
– Timing
– Preferences
Is Everything Funny?
• No.
• Why?
– Setting
– Delivery
– Target
– Timing
– Preferences
A good rule of thumb…
• Making the student laugh is never the priority
• Use humor intentionally
• “Humor isn’t the car you drive to get somewhere. It’s more of a blinker... Or the aux cable to make the ride easier.”– (Strickland, 2019)
Deep Dive into Academic Research
ACADEMIC RESEARCH
Humor in Educational Settings
Why do instructors (teachers,
advisors, guidance counselors,
etc.) use humor in an
educational setting?
Benefits of Humor in Instructional
Settings• Effective use of humor
often results in:– Comfort w/ instructor
– Mitigation of student anxiety
– Increased participation
• Ineffective use of humor often results in:– Anxious and uncomfortable
learning environment
– Lower evaluations of instructors
– Increased student distraction
– Less enjoyment*
(Banas, Dunbar, Rodriguez & Liu, 2011)
Instruction Humor Processing Theory
• Appropriate forms of instructional humor are positively associated with student learning
• Humor attempts are labeled “highly appropriate” when they relate closely to the course content
• Students must be able to recognize the incongruity in the instructor’s message in order to perceive humor
• Once recognized, the incongruity must be resolved– Resolved = Positive affect
– Unresolved = Negative affect
(Wanzer, Frymier & Irwin, 2010)
(Wanzer, Frymier & Irwin, 2010)
Considerations of IHPT
• Relevance
– Humor attempts are most successful when relevantly
connected to course content
– May increase motivation and ability to process messages
– Doesn’t distract from instructional message and makes
information more memorable
• Appropriateness
– Influences affective response to instructional material
• Appropriate = Positive
• Inappropriate = Negative
(Wanzer, Frymier & Irwin, 2010)
Examples of Appropriate Humor
• Affiliative/Solidarity-based
• Psychological needs/Self-enhancing
• Power-based humor
• Humor related to class materials
• Funny stories
• Humorous comments
(Banas, Dunbar, Rodriguez & Liu, 2011)
Examples of Inappropriate Humor
• Aggressive/denigrating others
– Manipulating or denigrating others, ridicule, mocking
• Offensive humor
– Humor based on race, ethnicity, sex, political affiliation, sexual orientation of self or another
(Banas, Dunbar, Rodriguez & Liu, 2011)
Examples of Context-Dependent
Humor• Unrelated humor
• Self-disparaging humor
• Unplanned humor
• Jokes/Riddles
• Low humor
• Nonverbal humor
• Puns
• Prop-based humor
• Visual Illustrations
Humor in Advisor/Advisee
Relationships• The use of humor in interpersonal
communication between advisor and advisee can impact:– Nonverbal immediacy
– Mentoring
– Social support
– Relationship satisfaction
(Wrench and Punyanunt-Carter, 2008)
Strickland’s Framework of Humor in
Advising
Successful humor in advising will meet the
following qualifications:
ppropriate
ontent-Relevantelpfulncouragingrapped Up (Resolved)
Methods of Using Humor
Appropriately in Advising Practice
• Method 1 – Online Communication (e-
mail, social media)
• Method 2 – Humoring Your Office Space
• Method 3 – Face-to-face, personal
conversation
Method 1 – Online Communication“E-Mails? Huh… more like MEME-mails!”
• Humor can be added in the online environment with:– Jokes
– Cartoons
– Memes• Many meme generators
available online
• Research meme content on www.knowyourmeme.com
– Riddles
– Quotes
Method 2 – Humoring Your Advising
Space• Decorate your space to
present a warm,
welcoming environment
• Remember, humor can
help create:
– Comfort w/ advisor
– Mitigate student anxiety
– Increase participation
Method 3 – In-Person Communication
• Every advising session starts off like a
joke
– “A guy walks into a bar…”
– “A lady walks into her doctor’s office…”
– “A student walks into an advisor’s office…”
An student walks into their advisor’s
office…The student is worried about what career possibilities are out there for them post-graduation.
The advisor asks the student what they’ve been up to recently that got them worrying about their career options.
The student, an English major, recently watched a documentary on HuluNetflixPrime about web design/technology and was really fascinated with how it all worked.
What’s the punchline?
References
Banas, J.A., Dunbar, N., Rodriguez, D., & Liu, S. (2011). A review of humor in educational settings: four decades of research. Communication Education, 60(1), 115-144.
Friend, T. (2002, November). What’s so funny? The New Yorker. P. 78.
McGraw, P., & Warner, J. (2014). The humor code: A global search for what makes things funny. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Wanzer, M.B., Frymier, A.B., & Irwin, J. (2010). An explanation of the relationship between instructor humor and student learning: instructional humor processing theory. Communication Education. 59(1), 1-18.
Wrench, J.S., & Punyanunt-Carter, N.M. (2008). The influence of graduate advisor use of interpersonal humor on graduate students. NACADA Journal, 28(1), 54-72.
Any Questions?
John Strickland
Academic Advisor, Exploratory Students
Florida State University – Advising First
850-644-4011