Why aren't you laughing? – The effect of dark and light humor on anxiety and affective state

Abstract

Humor plays a significant role in mental health, with several studies confirming its positive effects on anxiety and coping, yet the emotional impact effects of varying comic styles is underexplored. This study builds upon the comic style framework which categorizes humor into four lighter (fun, humor, nonsense, wit) and four darker styles (sarcasm, cynicism, satire, irony). We aimed to investigate how consuming humor content congruent with an individual's comic style impacts anxiety and affective states. A total of 275 participants were categorized based on their comic style preferences (Low Engagement, Light Preference, Dark Preference, Broad Engagement) and exposed to video clips representing both light and dark humor. Anxiety levels and positive and negative affect were measured before and after each viewing. Our results show that participants experienced less anxiety and more positive affect after viewing humor congruent with their preferred comic style. Conversely, incongruent content tended to increase anxiety and negative affect, particularly among individuals with a preference for light humor when exposed to dark humor. These findings suggest that humor congruence plays a critical role in regulating emotional responses, with light humor providing a buffer against anxiety for most participants, while dark humor's impact varies depending on individual preferences.