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Research in humor has been done to understand the psychological and physiological effects, both positive and negative, on a person or groups of people. Research in humor has revealed many different theories of humor and many different kinds of humor including their functions and effects personally, in relationships, and in society.

Benefits of Humor

Psychological

A journal article in 2006 examined the psychological benefits of humor. It looked at humor as moderator of life stress and humor's effect on depression. In general, the conclusion suggested that humor may help a person cope with stress in life and it may also help a person fight depression. A Situational Humor Response Questionnaire was distributed to determine subjects sense of humor. Those who scored high in this questionnaire tended to show a low relationship between life stresses and disturbed mood than those with a lower sense of humor score. A second study tested subjects' ability to produce humor. Those who were able to produce humor in an impromptu setting tended to a low relationship between life stresses and disturbed mood than those who were less able to produce humor. A third test involved subjects' ability to produce humor in stressful situations. Those who were able to produce humor had a low relationship between life stresses and disturbed mood than those were were less able to produce humor.

In 2009, a study examined the different humor styles as mediators between self-evaluative standards and psychological well-being. There were four central styles of humor examined in the study:

• Affiliative - used to enhance interpersonal relationships and is not harmful in any way.
• Self-enhancing - involves having a humorous outlook on life.
• Self-defeating - seeks to enhance interpersonal relationships with others, but at an individual's own expense.
• Aggressive - used primarily to put down or hurt others.

The study found that higher levels of affiliative humor predicted higher levels of social self-esteem and lower levels of depression. Higher levels of self-enhancing humor predicted higher levels of social self-esteem and reduced depression. Higher levels of self-defeating humor predicted lower levels of social self-esteem and higher levels of depression. Aggressive humor did not predict social self-esteem or depression. Greater endorsement of positive self-evaluative standards was associated with higher affiliative and self-enhancing humor and with lower self-defeating humor. Greater endorsement of negative self-evaluative standards was associated with higher self-defeating humor and with lower affiliative and self-enhancing humor.

Humor in Relationships

Marriage

In 2002, a study was conducted on the functions of humor in close relationships. The study examined three types of humor:

• Positive humor - describes positive aspects of humor, such as humor appreciation, attractiveness, and closeness.
• Negative humor - describes humor used to express aggression or humor used in a manipulative manner.
• Instrumental humor - measures the extent to which the person uses humor to avoid tension or tries to smooth over negative feelings.

Positive humor is expected to be related to intimacy and marital satisfaction. This relation was true for the wives, but not for the husbands. This suggests that whether or not husbands use positive humor, it has nothing to do with how closely they feel to their partner or their marital satisfaction. Research suggests that instrumental humor is negatively related to marital satisfaction and is an indicator of potential future marital deterioration. Results showed that husbands acknowledged using instrumental humor in their relationship in relation to demand-withdrawal, in which the wife demands and the husband withdraws. Wives, on the other hand, did not acknowledge the use of instrumental humor in this communication pattern. This seems to indicate that men more often withdraw than women, in this case, with the use of humor. Negative humor was not related to any of the other humor measure in the study. This makes sense considering that put-downs or hurtful humor does not tend to lead to laughter or humor appreciation. Negative humor items in the questionnaire given to the participants described expressing negative emotion. Negative humor somewhat correlated with demand-withdrawal for husbands and wives. This humor can be a form of passive aggressiveness where the one using the humor is not taking responsibility for the put-down or hurtful joke, and in doing so, avoiding, or withdrawing from, conflict.

Measuring Responses to Humor

When someone finds something funny, there are different ways of expressing it. Common responses of humor include laughing and smiling. In 2008, a study was conducted using 155 undergraduate students at North London University in order to measure responses to humor using a British comedy. The participants were divided into one of three categories: watched a video of the comedy, listened to an audiotape of the comedy, or read a script of the comedy. Approximately half of the participants were observed by an overt video camera and half were observed by a covert video camera. Results showed that participants laughed and smiled much more frequently when watching a video of the comedy and listening to the audiotape of the comedy than when reading a script. The difference in the frequency of smiling and laughing between the video and the audiotape was not significant. Participants laughed and smiled more frequently when observed by a covert video camera than an overt video camera. Aspects of the video and audiotape such as visualization of the acting, auditory representation, and also the presence of audience laughter significantly increase the frequency of laughter and smiling.