The Noel Strengths Academy defines it this way:
- Those with the strengths of humor like to laugh, tease, joke but not in ways harmful to others
- Brings smiles to other people’s faces
- Are able to seeing the lighter side of difficult issues
- Can laugh at themselves; don’t take themselves too seriously
- Playful
- Underuse: Over-seriousness
- Overuse: Giddiness
Key Research:
- Rank order of Humor in populations from:
- US : 8;
- European: 7
- Asia: 17
- Latin America: 17
- Sub-Saharan Africa: 14
- Middle east: 12
- In a study of character strengths and adolescent peer relationships, the strengths deemed most desirable/important in a friend were honesty, humor, kindness, and fairness, and those most connected with higher peer acceptance were perspective, love, kindness, social intelligence, teamwork, leadership, and humor (Wagner, 2018).
- The most prevalent character strengths in very young children are love, kindness, creativity, curiosity, and humor (Park & Peterson, 2006a).
- In a study of character strengths and adolescent peer relationships, the strengths deemed most desirable/important in a friend were honesty, humor, kindness, and fairness, and those most connected with higher peer acceptance were perspective, love, kindness, social intelligence, teamwork, leadership, and humor (Wagner, 2018).
Tayyab Rashid and Afroze Anjum offer 340 Ways to Use VIA Character Strengths including these four for Humor:
Learn more on Humor
New Yorker cartoonist Liza Donnelly shares a portfolio of her wise and funny cartoons about modern life — and talks about how humor can empower women to change the rules.
Suspicious emails: unclaimed insurance bonds, diamond-encrusted safe deposit boxes, close friends marooned in a foreign country. They pop up in our inboxes, and standard procedure is to delete on sight. But what happens when you reply? Follow along as writer and comedian James Veitch narrates a hilarious, weeks-long exchange with a spammer who offered to cut him in on a hot deal.
Did you know that you’re 30 times more likely to laugh if you’re with somebody else than if you’re alone? Cognitive neuroscientist Sophie Scott shares this and other surprising facts about laughter in this fast-paced, action-packed and, yes, hilarious dash through the science of cracking up.
“I have cerebral palsy. I shake all the time,” Maysoon Zayid announces at the beginning of this exhilarating, hilarious talk. (Really, it’s hilarious.) “I’m like Shakira meets Muhammad Ali.” With grace and wit, the Arab-American comedian takes us on a whistle-stop tour of her adventures as an actress, stand-up comic, philanthropist and advocate for the disabled.
Podcasts to feed your Humor
- The conceit of Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend is simple and a bit genius. O’Brien welcomes on guests for a 30-ish minute chat. The guests are all celebrities that have been on one of O’Brien’s late-night shows. There’s a bit of catching up and story-telling but the thrust of the show is whether O’Brien and his guest can or are friends even though the work in the same industry and are around each other professionally, seemingly, all the time. It’s a hilarious listen every damn time.
- Bertcast is a great listen. Each episode finds Kreischer sitting down with a fellow comedian to shot-the-shit for about two hours. It’s goddamn hilarious and you’ll find yourself laughing out loud while you’re on your run or in your car. Kreischer also does smaller episodes called ‘Open Tabs’ where he riffles through all the open tabs on his computer from the night before. It’s always a delight.
- Joe Rogan’s podcast is one of the most popular in the world. Sometimes this is a dead serious podcast that touches on huge ideas, science, and societal debates. Sometimes it’s a podcast where the biggest names in comedy gather to talk the industry and/or just spend three hours doing their comedy thing.
- “The Science of Laughter” – Hidden Brain (NPR) Summary: This episode looks at the neuroscience, psychology and benefits behind laughter and humor. URL: https://www.npr.org/2021/07/19/1017999363/the-science-of-laughter
- “Humor, Seriously” – Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris Summary: Dan Harris examines how humor can reduce stress, build bonds, and boost resilience. URL: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/humor-seriously
- “Laughing Matters” – The Science of Happiness (UC Berkeley) Summary: Exploring research on the positivity-boosting impacts of engaging humor styles. URL: https://ggsc.berkeley.edu/podcasts/story/laughing_matters
- “The Power of Humor in Life” – Afforded Freedom with Brett Peasley Summary: Guests share how humor helped them through difficult times and cultivate joy. URL: https://www.affordedfreedom.com/podcast/the-power-of-humor-in-life
- “A Humorous Look at Humor Research” – You Are Not So Smart Summary: Unpacking the psychology behind why humans developed this unique capacity. URL: https://youarenotsosmart.com/2023/03/13/yanss-269-a-humorous-look-at-humor-research/
Meditation for humor
- Bringing Kindness to Yourself @ Insight Timer
- Kindness to Self Using the Breath @ Insight Timer
- Loving Kindness with Meg Levie @ SIYLI
- Loving-Kindness Meditation @ Greater Good
- A Loving-Kindness Meditation to Boost Compassion @ Mindful
Read more on meditation and kindness:
- Does Mindfulness Meditation Really Make You Kinder?
- Why Loving-Kindness Takes Time: includes a 45 minute guided meditation by Sharon Salzberg
- 18 Science-Based Reasons to Try Loving-Kindness Meditation Today!