A novel.

Previous studies on humor in education have focused on the use of humor embedded in the presentation of content material. Some research, however, suggests that humor is an effective tool for increasing divergent thinking and information acquisition if the humor is given prior to the presentation of content material. This study used an experimental design to test if humor given prior to content presentation was more effective in helping students understand and remember information and enjoy the presentation than a control group treatment. Statistical tests did not support either hypothesis. / Ph. D.

In this project, I analyze women's humor in three of Jane Austen's novels: Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, and Emma. Using speech-act theory, I specifically examine Elizabeth's, Emma's, and Mary's utterances to demonstrate that in order for humorous utterances to be subversive, they must challenge societal or patriarchal constructs (religion, misogynist men, marriage, the feminine ideal) and do so artfully. An indirect speech act--a play on words, an insult, even a laugh--is often far more effective than a more direct one, especially when wielded by characters for whom a direct antagonistic speech act would have severe social consequences. When those socially-sanctioned and highly-regulated speech acts--marriages, wills, introductions, invitations, letters, titles--are less accessible or less beneficial to women, only indirect speech acts remain a viable option. / Master of Arts

Connective tissue remodeling is an important area of study in biomedical engineering with respect to cancer and wound healing. Tissue remodeling components may be involved in the pathogenesis of open-angle glaucoma. Risk factors for open angle glaucoma include increased intraocular pressure (IOP), male gender, and advanced age. In a 1963 study, the hormone relaxin decreased IOP in the human eye through a mechanism that may involve the up-regulation of tissue remodeling matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). The effects of age and gender on MMP and protein activity in porcine aqueous humor were determined in this study to identify correlations existing between MMP activity and glaucoma risk factors. Gelatin zymography identified MMPs at 66 kD and approximately 105 kD. The concentration of the 66 kD band compared to human MMP-2 standard was 0.22 ± 0.06 ng/ml for the adult female (AF) samples and 0.28 ± 0.04 ng/ml for the juvenile samples. This difference in concentration was statistically significant (p < 0.05). The concentration of the protease migrating to 66 kD was statistically independent of gender. Casein zymograms identified two non-MMP proteinases at 51 kD and 80 kD. The average total protein concentration for all aqueous humor samples was 2.54 ± 0.89 mg/ml. The mean IgG, transferrin, and albumin concentrations for all aqueous humor samples was 11.4 ± 4.2 mg/ml, 17.11 ± 6.8 mg/ml, and 78.0 ± 26.3 mg/ml respectively. Results from these experiments establish baseline levels of MMP and protein activity, allowing for identification of potential changes caused by relaxin in tissue culture studies. / Master of Science

Master of Science / Department of Psychology / Donald A. Saucier / This research examines the effect of exposure to anti-gay humor on individuals’ tolerance of anti-gay discrimination. Participants were exposed to one of four conditions in a 2 (message type; joke or statement) x 2 (disparagement; anti-gay or neutral) design. They read vignettes that contained anti-gay jokes or statements, or neutral jokes or statements. Individuals’ sexual prejudice, humor styles, discrimination tolerance, feelings of compunction, and perceptions of others’ tolerance were also measured. Results showed that individuals exposed to humorous stimuli were more tolerant of discrimination, compared to those exposed to non-humorous stimuli. Further, levels of discrimination tolerance were significantly related both to individuals’ levels of sexual prejudice and their preference for an aggressive humor style. No significant interaction effects were found among these variables. These findings contribute to the literature on disparaging humor by examining its effects on targets of a different social group, and by incorporating humor style as a potential moderating variable.

Inledning: Äkta humor, glädje och skämt kan skapa en lättnad i det mänskliga livet. Men till skillnad från konflikter, smärtor och ångest har dessa känslor inte varit lika framträdande i psykoterapin. Det beror på att systematiska studier av användandet och funktionen av humor i den psykoterapeutiska processen till stor del saknas. Frågeställningar:Vilka är patienters erfarenheter av humor i den psykoterapeutiska relationen? Hur anser patienterna att humor kan ha påverkat den psykoterapeutiska processen? Metod:Studien har en kvalitativ forskningsansats. Fem deltagare som går i psykoterapi intervjuades. Intervjuerna analyserades och tolkades utifrån en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat:Humor i terapi kan skapa en god allians genom terapeutens delaktighet, ge en ökad känsla av frihet och meningsfullhet för deltagaren, väcka en förändring av det upplevda problemet eller händelsen ur ett mer humoristiskt sätt samt vara ett verktyg för att bearbeta synen på tidigare upplevelser. Användning av humor stärker deltagarnas självuppfattning, intresse för den egna utvecklingen och slutligen möjligheten att utveckla ett förtroende med terapeuten.                                        Diskussion:Humor kan vara en mycket verksam och utvecklande del i psykoterapin. I studien visar användandet av humor främst positiva effekter och få negativa effekter. Användning av humor kan ge optimala förutsättningar för ett positivt terapiarbete och kan utgöra en viktig betydelse för den terapeutiska relationen och processen. Flertalet forskare och terapeuter motsäger sig dock användandet av humor och ser humor som en försvarsmekanism. Tidigare forskning beskriver framväxten av humor i terapin som ytterst begränsad. / Introduction: Genuine humor, joy and jokes can create a relief in human life, just as conflicts, pain and anxiety these emotions have been as prominent. The use of humor in therapy and the function of humor in the therapeutic process have had a very limited role in the psychotherapeutic world. Question formulation: What are the patient’s experiences of humor in a psychotherapeutic relationship? How do patients consider that humor may have affected the psychotherapeutic process? Method: The study has a qualitative research approach. Five participants attending psychotherapy were interviewed. The interviews were analyzed and interpreted based on a qualitative content analysis. Results: Humor in therapy can create a good alliance through the therapist's participation, provide a greater sense of freedom and meaningfulness to the participant, bringing a change in the perceived problem or event in a more humorous way, and be a tool to process the view of past experiences. The use of humor strengthens participants' self-perception, interest in their own development, and finally the ability to develop trust with the therapist. Discussion: Humor can be a very effective and stimulating part of psychotherapy. The study shows the use of humor has mostly positive effects with only a few negative effects. The use of humor can provide optimal conditions for a positive therapy work and can be an important bearing on the therapeutic relationship and process. Most researchers and therapists contradict the use of humor and sees it as a defense mechanism. Previous research describes the emergence of humor therapy as extremely limited.

This thesis sought to demonstrate that humour and the grotesque are the primary tools by which Mda achieve his postcolonial strategies of &quot / writing back&quot / , that is, of asserting an identity in the face of colonial pressures, apartheid and the growing selfishness of many in the new, post-democratic South African society.

In a multicultural society, questions like integration, national identity and swedishness become of immediate importance. The comedy-drama Sveriges bästa svensk was created as a contribution to affect the public debate on these issues and encourage people to think about what is swedish, and to break down prejudices that exist in the society. The purpose of this study is to examine what kind of discussions develop in relation to the film. The purpose is also to examine if these discussions can be related to the purpose and goals of the film project. To examine this, theories about communications strategies of organisations and theories of humor to affect way of thoughts have been used. Two focus group interviews took place, whereof one with swedish-born swedes and another with foreign-born swedes to be able to find similarities and differences in the discussions between the groups. The analysis shows that the purpose, to start a discussion, is accomplished within both groups albeit in different ways. The discussion within the group of swedish-borns is mainly about the problematization of swedishness and the discussions within the group of foreign-borns is mainly about adjustments and belonging. The groups mutually believe that integration should not be about assimilation. They also agreed that the genre of humor for this type of question was problematic because the film, according to them, lost its message. The questions regarding swedishness and integration proved to be current and this type of effort, using film, is an important part of the public debate. / I ett mångkulturellt samhälle blir frågor om integration, nationell identitet och svenskhet aktuella. Dramakomedin Sveriges bästa svensk har skapats som en insats för att påverka samhällsdebatten kring dessa ämnen och uppmana en att fundera på vem som är svensk och bryta ner fördomar som existerar i samhället. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vilka slags diskussioner, i relation till filmen, som skapas hos en grupp med utlandsfödda svenskar och en grupp med svenskfödda svenskar. Syftet är även att undersöka om diskussionerna kan relateras till det bakomliggande syftet och målen med filmprojektet. För att undersöka detta har teorier om organisationers kommunikationsstrategier och teorier om att använda humor för att påverka tankebanor använts. Två fokusgruppsintervjuer har ägt rum varav en med svenskfödda svenskar och en med utlandsfödda svenskar för att kunna hitta likheter och skillnader i diskussionerna mellan grupperna. Analysen visar att syftet med att inleda diskussion uppnås hos båda grupperna, om än på olika sätt. Den svenskfödda gruppens diskussioner handlar mycket om problematisering av svenskhet och den utlandsföddas diskussioner om anpassning och tillhörighet. Gemensamt för de båda grupperna var att de ansåg att integration inte bör handla om assimilation. De menade också att humorgenren för denna typ av fråga var problematisk då humorn, enligt dem, delvis skymde filmens budskap. Frågorna kring svenskhet och integration visar sig vara aktuella och denna typ av insats, med film, är en viktig del av samhällsdebatten.

Bakgrund: Humor är ett brett begrepp som definieras på olika sätt. Humor har stor betydelse i kommunikation och bemötande och finns i alla vårdmiljöer. Ett gott bemötande främjar hälsa, vilket är grundläggande i sjuksköterskans profession. Humor har många fysiologiska och psykologiska effekter, till exempel ökad frisättning av endorfiner, minskad oro och stress. Syfte: Syftet med studien var att belysa hur sjuksköterskan kan använda sig av humor i sin profession. Metod: En litteraturstudie genomfördes med en systematisk sökning i tre databaser som genererade i 14 resultatartiklar. Databearbetningen utgick ifrån en manifest innehållsanalys. Resultat: Resultatet belyser tre teman: humorns betydelse i interaktion med patienten, humorns betydelse i interaktion med medarbetare och humorns betydelse för sjuksköterskan. I interaktion med patienten används humor relationsskapande, för att patienten ska känna sig unik, uppleva välbefinnande, för att öka följsamheten, underlätta för och få mer kunskap om patienten. Även olämplig humoranvändning belyses i temat. I interaktion med medarbetare används humor för att hantera arbetet, skapa gemenskap och kommunicera underliggande mening och avsikt. Humor har betydelse för sjuksköterskan som copingstrategi och för att hantera stress. Slutsats: Humor har stor betydelse i sjuksköterskans profession och påverkar många människor i sjuksköterskans närhet. Kunskap om humorns effekter behöver implementeras i sjuksköterskeutbildningen och medvetandegöras i professionen. / Background: Humour is a wide concept, defined in several ways. Humour is important for communication and encounter, existing in all healthcare settings. A good encounter promotes health, which is essential in the nursing profession. Humour has many physiological and psychological effects, for example increased release of endorphins, reduced anxiety and stress. Aim: The aim of the study was to illustrate how the registered nurse can practice humour in the nursing profession. Method: A literature review was conducted with a systematic search in three databases that generated in 14 result articles. A manifest content analysis was the foundation of the data analysis. Findings: The findings illustrate three themes: the importance of humour in interaction with the patient, the importance of humour in interaction with co-workers and the importance of humour for the registered nurse. In interaction with the patient humour is used to build relationships, make the patient feel unique, enhance wellbeing, make it easier for the patient, increase compliance and gain more knowledge of the patient. Inappropriate use of humour is also illustrated in the theme. In interaction with co-workers humour is used to manage work, create communion and communicate underlying meaning and intention. Humour is important for the nurse as a coping strategy and to manage stress. Conclusion: Humour has great importance in the nursing profession and affects many people in presence of the nurse. Knowledge about the effects of humour needs to be implemented in the nursing education and acknowledged in the nursing profession.

The sense of humour is a uniquely human skill and understanding humour is an important and rewarding part of social interaction. This thesis begins by discussing the definition of humour, followed by a review of the evidence we have that humour is an evolved and adaptive behaviour. Humour may play an important role in helping individuals to bond and signal cooperation, which may be further communicated by the humour style which is used to communicate. Research has also demonstrated that humour is an attractive quality in a mate, though the precise reasons for this are currently debated (Chapter 1). Empirical work in the first section of the thesis is consistent with evidence demonstrating that humour is attractive and sexually selected for. Chapter 2 tests the influence of modality and relationship context in an effort to further our understanding of why humour is attractive and provides evidence that more attractive people are rated as being funnier than less attractive people. Humour was also found to be more attractive for short-term relationships than long-term relationships, possibly due to the similarity between funniness and flirtatiousness. In Chapter 3, attractiveness ratings of vignettes in the style of personal advertisements, which contained either aggressive or affiliative humour, demonstrated the importance of humour style. An affiliative humour style was more attractive for long-term relationships whereas an aggressive humour style was more attractive for short-term relationships. Further testing provided evidence that humour styles were associated with personality traits which are highly relevant in a mating context, helping to explain the functions of different humour styles. The second section of the thesis examines the relationship between humour, cooperation, and dominance as an alternative explanation for the evolution of humour. Chapter 4 contains an extended introduction to the physical, verbal, and nonverbal cues to dominance and the sex differences that exist in expressive behaviours. Chapter 5 continues this theme and elaborates further on the function of humour in group situations, before providing empirical evidence of how humour is used in the context of a competitive ‘desert-island’ style conversation between same-sex dyads. Chapter 6 further expands on this line of research as empirical evidence presented in this chapter demonstrates that males may be using humour as a way of communicating the desire to cooperate with other males who are of a similar level of dominance. The communication of dominance is further examined in Chapter 7, where ethological evidence showed that males who were more physically dominant tended to knock doors with greater frequency than males who were less physically dominant. In the final chapter of the thesis (Chapter 8), the evolution of humour is discussed in light of the evidence presented in Chapters 2-7. The thesis presents evidence to suggest that humour production is an important skill for males for two reasons. Firstly, a good sense of humour is a highly attractive quality to females and may be a cue to genetic quality or good partner qualities, depending on the humour style used. Secondly, it may be important for males to use humour to signal cooperation to other males in order to form alliances. In females, the evidence presented in the thesis suggests that humour production may be a way for females to demonstrate romantic interest or flirtatiousness but the function of humour use between females remains largely inconclusive.