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

jzstrickland@fsu.edu