Is humor cross-cultural?
We all know laughter is a cross
cultural but is humor. Different jokes illicit different responses and apply
differently to different people. The same jokes that are funny in North America
may not be funny in other parts of the word. This is due to the only factor
that I feel applies and that is cultural conditions. Humor preferences depend on the cultural
background of the individual. Even with the smile that seems so
universal to us, we cannot assume that the meaning is the same all over the
world. Understanding humor requires an in-depth
understanding of culture and these cultural conditions that create a persons or
a groups identity, the image above illustrates this point well. Humor
is a very easy way to break the ice but we must be aware what each culture
finds funny in order to not insult or degrade them. One of
my Chinese friend at the school shared that she had difficulty
comprehending American humor, this was due to many factors one being cultural
conditions i.e. language. But because she brought it up, I was able to
explain some aspects of it but I’m pretty sure I didn't do
a god job of it. I let her watch some clips of Russell peters, which
was a bad idea because he makes insensitive racial jokes which I
though was run until that moment. Further research needs to be done
in order to fully understand the conditions that leads to failure to recognize
humor cross culturally.
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