“ Humor is an important, ubiquitous phenomenon; however, seemingly disparate conditions seem to facilitate humor. We integrate
these conditions by suggesting that laughter and amusement result from violations that are simultaneously seen as benign.
We investigated three conditions that make a violation benign and thus humorous: (a) the presence of an alternative norm suggesting
that the situation is acceptable, (b) weak commitment to the violated norm, and (c) psychological distance from the violation.
We tested the benign-violation hypothesis in the domain of moral psychology, where there is a strong documented association
between moral violations and negative emotions, particularly disgust. Five experimental studies show that benign moral violations
tend to elicit laughter and amusement in addition to disgust. Furthermore, seeing a violation as both wrong and not wrong
mediates behavioral displays of humor. Our account is consistent with evolutionary accounts of laughter, explains humor across
many domains, and suggests that humor can accompany negative emotion.
these conditions by suggesting that laughter and amusement result from violations that are simultaneously seen as benign.
We investigated three conditions that make a violation benign and thus humorous: (a) the presence of an alternative norm suggesting
that the situation is acceptable, (b) weak commitment to the violated norm, and (c) psychological distance from the violation.
We tested the benign-violation hypothesis in the domain of moral psychology, where there is a strong documented association
between moral violations and negative emotions, particularly disgust. Five experimental studies show that benign moral violations
tend to elicit laughter and amusement in addition to disgust. Furthermore, seeing a violation as both wrong and not wrong
mediates behavioral displays of humor. Our account is consistent with evolutionary accounts of laughter, explains humor across
many domains, and suggests that humor can accompany negative emotion.
