A discussion of the Clarification Function of Humor

    Humor and social norms often go hand in hand together. For many people the breaking of social norms is a sufficient and common reason to find humor. However, an interesting point to consider is that people may also find humor when others point out the nature of social norms. This itself leads me into the topic that I will be teaching today, which is known as the Clarification function of humor. To teach this function I will begin by explaining what it is about. Then I will go over the effects that it has on the interactions between people, and I will ultimately discuss an example that highlights this function.

    The clarification function of humor is about finding humor in the comments that others make about social norms. Meyer (2015) specifically mentions that this function involves the capturing of an opinion or a belief that is expressed through a unique concise phrase or through an anecdote. This alone means that people state their beliefs in the brief comments that they make. However, another thing about this function is that people's comments clarify norms and beliefs by focusing on the expected norms and not on the possible or real violations of the norms (Meyer, 2015). What this means is that people do not look at the violations of norms that are occurring but that they instead emphasize the expected norms to uncover what their norms and beliefs are. Aside from this the function also looks at the mistakes that people make in the messages they express since the mistakes themselves help people reinforce their original intended message with humor (Meyer, 2015). This lastly means that when people's messages have issues people can turn those issues around with humor to actually make the point of their message.

    The effects of the clarification function of humor include some different things for people's interactions. Meyer (2015) first mentions that it can improve people's relationships because it allows them to laugh at comments that empower their social norms. However, he also mentions that this function allows people to use their unique and brief comments to persuade others and to make them think about things differently. All of which ultimately make it seem like this function can be both positive and negative for people.

    One way to illustrate this function is with a comment that my mother frequently makes. Anytime that someone asks her how she made or moved something she has a habit of saying "Obviously with my hands. I wasn't going to do it with my feet." This is a comment that always causes both me and her to laugh since the image of her actually making or moving something with her feet is not something that one would normally expect to see. However, aside from causing both of us humor this comment ultimately shows how my mother clarifies the norm that people tend to do things with their hands and not with their feet.

References

Meyer, J. C. (2015). Understanding Humor Through Communication: Why Be Funny, Anyway?. Lexington Books.