#10: Season 1, Ep 10 - The Psychology of Humor - The functions of comedy in a changing society with Tom Ford

ACT in Perspective - A prosocial podcast using behavioral science to address human suffering

Today's topic is all about humor/comedy. Humor is a universal human experience. We love to laugh. We invest a lot of our time, energy and money into creating laughter. People often know funny when they see it, but have a difficult time describing it. If we ask the average person: What is funny? We're likely to get a blank stare. Moreover, we typically don't explore such questions as, Why do we laugh? What effects does it have for ourselves and society as a whole? What are the different types and functions of humor? And most importantly, how can we best harness this power to improve our world? We answer these and more questions with today's guest: Dr. Thomas E Ford. Tom Ford is a Professor of Psychology at Western Carolina University. He is a former Editor-in-Chief of HUMOR: the International Journal of Humor Research. He and his colleagues have developed the Prejudiced Norm Theory, an influential theory on the impact of disparaging humor on prejudice and discrimination. He is co-author of The Psychology of Humor: An Integrative Approach, and co-editor of his newest book, just out, The Social Psychology of Humor, among many other related articles. We start off with defining humor - what it is and we we laugh. If you like what you see, don't forget to SUBSCRIBE. It's free and it really helps to support this channel. This is also on Youtube with graphics and additional videos to help demonstrate what we're discussing. Just go to ACT in Perspective channel and check it out. Please help welcome Dr. Tom Ford.