• More Blogs
• Observations »
• Bering in Mind »
• Cross-check »
• Extinction Countdown »
• Solar at Home »
• Expeditions »
• Guest Blog »
• Anecdotes from the Archive »

Are you more likely to get a joke if you lean politically left or right? That's the question New York Times columnist John Tierney asks today, extending a line of inquiry popular this campaign season: the personality characteristics of ideologues.

Tierney cites a study by MIT behavioral scientist Dan Ariely, who ran 22 jokes by 285 Bostonians and discovered that, lo and behold, conservatives are better humored — at least about the funnies.

Those findings may come as a surprise in light of other research suggesting that conservatives are more close-minded, intolerant and allegedly scare more easily than liberals (but do keep neater quarters). Using a scale from 1 to 9, in which 1 indicated "not at all funny" and 9 was "hilarious," conservatives gave an average rating of 5 and liberals gave an average rating of 4.32 to three religious jokes Ariely told them, Tierney writes. Conservatives also liked the golf jokes better, as well as three "Deep Thoughts" by Jack Handey (who doesn't think that guy's a hoot?).

How reliable is this sort of study in measuring sense of humor, let alone as a personality characteristic of political ideology? The whole concept of funny, as one commenter points out on Tierney's blog, is subjective.

Ariely himself notes a neat twist on the stereotype that liberals have more fun with humor: "When we asked our respondents to self-report how funny they are, liberals indicated that they were funnier," he writes on his Predictably Irrational blog. "This means that liberals are not finding life to be funnier, but they think they are."

Guess that means the joke's on them.

(Image by iStockphoto/James Steidl)

13 Comments

1. 1. ChrisJones 03:07 PM 11/4/08

   Before having a sense of humor, one must have sense. Neither liberal idiots nor conservative idiots have any sense. Neither, can, therefore have a sense of humor. I'm very sure that both the liberal idiots and the conservative idiots will take exception to this little note. Oh sure, they will joke and laugh almost as if they actually did have real sense of humor, but it is all nothing more than mimicry. They have gotten so good at this imitation of sentience that they can often actually appear intelligent. Don't be fooled! They are not intelligent, they are completely mindless and often dangerous. Beware!

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

2. 2. Keeks in reply to ChrisJones 03:15 PM 11/4/08

   Harsh.

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

3. 3. hotblack 03:36 PM 11/4/08

   Hahaha!!!
   
   Oh.
   
   :(

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

4. 4. candide 04:46 PM 11/4/08

   Liberals with a better developed sense of humor already heard them or guessed the ending. Maybe the jokes just were not that funny.

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

5. 5. Derick in TO in reply to ChrisJones 05:15 PM 11/4/08

   ChrisJones - I guess I must be an idiot, because I don't get your joke.
   
   Or are you actually trying to articulate a point? It seems that you are saying that all liberals and conservatives are idiots. Are you trying to say that only centerists have any sense?
   
   Given that America has a bipartisan (liberal - conservative) political system that ONLY ever produces a liberal or conservative president, you seem to be suggesting that virtually every American President has been, well, senseless!
   
   Now THAT'S funny!

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

6. 6. TJV 05:24 PM 11/4/08

   If one joke was about farts, and the conservative thought it funny while the liberal did not, does that mean the conservative has a better sense of humor?

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

7. 7. Dolmance 08:49 PM 11/4/08

   Actually, true conservatives aren't very funny. Their humor is more in the vein of "Prairie Home Companion," while Jews and black people who are normally liberal lean toward, "The Daily Show," and/or, "The Dave Chappel Show." However, Right Wingers (who are not necessarily conservative) are very funny. But that's because they have a sociopathic component and few people are as funny as an intelligent and educated sociopath, while stupid sociopaths tend toward mean spirited racial humor.

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

8. 8. rdholland 08:58 AM 11/5/08

   Liberals are more easily scared than conservatives. Just try this simple experiment: Sneak up behind a liberal and say "Bush!"
   
   And like being funnier, there are a number of other things that liberals believe they are, but are not.

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

9. 9. ChrisJones 03:15 PM 11/5/08

   Yes, "harsh." Derick in TO, you are absolutely correct... not necessarily about being an idiot - I just don't know you well enough for that... you are right about pointing out that America has ONLY ever produced a liberal or conservative president. That is precisely my point. Even 'centrism" is an oversimplification. To lock oneself to the dogma of a party or a political "pole" is to negate the broad flexibility that is necessary to the healthy evolution of society. Our political system is terribly dysfunctional. Too many people want to hang on one end of the political spectrum or the other as if all things are clear-cut, black and white. Things are not, never have been, and never will be. Clear cut and black and white always lead to things like Stalinist Russia or Nazi Germany. Absolutely EVERY instance of hyper polarization socially or politically has led to bad things. The more right the people assumed they were, the worse it was. Even "centrists," if locked to the position, lose touch with the fluidity of society. Either one embraces the ambiguity or one becomes just another sheep. So, to all you Obamanics out there, yeah, the man is full of bright and shiny promises and you might be willing to follow him to the ends of the earth.... I counsel, be very careful that isn't exactly where you end up being led. Now THAT is freaking funny!
   
   The short answer? Yes.
   
   

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

10. 10. ductileironman 03:32 PM 11/5/08

    In my experience people who find simple humor funny are drawn to it because of it's simplicity and how it reflects their own personal experiences. Conversely, those who find vulgar, hateful things humorous, tend to also believe it is not ok for anyone to be critical of them. It doesn't matter what side of the spectrum your politics hit, if your humor is based upon something you could see yourself doing, and you laugh, it is much more genuine than the "funny" that puts someone else down and isn't something to which you can relate.
    
    For this very reason, I don't particularly like humor that talks about what other people did and makes light of it. Regardless of who the object of that humor is, it is denegration. If you can't put yourself in that situation, and yet you still laugh without discomfort, you are most likely more egocentric and self centered. This is the very reason why people don't get along with one another in broader circles and the root of how society works. Some thrive on group encouragement and relating in a very personal way with the foibles in other's lives. Others seem to get pleasure out of exposing the flaws of others.. these are the humorless, and their laughter is not an expression of humor, but of disdain and contempt.

    Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

11. 11. Nathaniel 01:40 PM 11/6/08

    This study does not determine who has a better sense of humor. The way it is set up it tests which group finds the jokes to be more funny. Thus, its really testing which group is more easily amused. When taken from that point of view, the results are not surprising at all.

    Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

12. 12. Dolmance 02:54 PM 11/6/08

    The one thing that used to make Adolph Hitler laugh until the tears rolled down his cheeks was to have a long, serious conversation with someone who seemed an expert in some field, or in possession of unusual insight and great intelligence, and then after an hour (or hopefully even longer), the person he was speaking to would say something that made it apparent in a single instant that he was a complete crackpot and totally out of his mind.
    
    Stalin's idea of a good laugh would be to watch someone get so drunk they defecated in their pants, while Mao and his wife used to love having a few people over for an intimate dinner, then after it was all over, run up to the roof to fire a mortar at them as they were driving home.
    
    In America, where granted the leaders aren't quite so overbearing in their personalities, Richard Nixon used to enjoy the occasional Jew Joke or when he'd unwind with his old friend, Bebe Rebozo. But Truman enjoyed who was a Democrat was not above enjoying a good Jew Joke himself. Ronald Reagan used to enjoy the, "How Fat Was She?" banter with the likes of Phyllis Diller and Shecky Greene, whom he knew from his days in Hollywood and I imagine Barrack Obama might carry on the tradition of politically based humor with a variation of the "How Fat Was She," jokes with the African American tradition of "signifyin'," which always begins with something like, "Your mama is so dumb, she thinks a blow job qualifies her for Welfare..."

    Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

13. 13. Bill Case 05:48 PM 11/6/08

    To take this discussion in a new direction: the funniest political humour is usually in jokes created and told by people who are of the same political stripe as the group being joked about.
    
    A conservative knows and understands conservatives. If they are perceptive they can see the foibles as well as the strengths of their fellow conservatives. The same applies for liberals. The surprising or startling kernel of truth that is the engine of humour comes easier to someone that is living a particular belief system.
    
    When one group tries to do humour or satire about the other group it is usually based on stereotypes and prejudices that don't ring true.
    
    I keep in mind the excellent humour of Gary Trudeau's "Doonsbury" in the Carter years compared to his rather flat irony of the Bush41 presidency.

    Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this