“My belief is that we are going to eventually discover that the most dramatic health
benefits of humor are not in laughter, but in the cognitive and emotional management
that humorous experiences provide. The experience of humor relieves emotional
distress and assists in changing negative thinking patterns.”
Steven M. Sultanoff, Ph.D.

Bibliography and References

The following bibliographies were originally compiled by
Don Nilsen, Executive Secretary of the
International Society for Humor Studies. 
I have also made some additions.
For additional bibliographies click here

Humor and Testing and Evaluation
(Revised November, 1999)

Aslan, S. Halime, Z. Nazan Alparslan, Yunus Emre Evlice, R. O?uz Aslan, Fulya Cenkseven. "Multidimensional Sense of Humor Scale: Vactorial Structure, Reliability and Validity Studies (in Turkish)." Journal of Pshiatry, Psychology and Psychopharmachalogy. 7.1 (1999): 34-39.

Barnett, Lynn A. "Playfulness: Definition, Design, and Measurement." Play and Culture 3.4 (November, 1990): 319-336.

Bernstein, Deena. "The Development of Humor: Implications for Assessment and Intervention." Topics in Language Disorders 6.4 (1986): 65-71.

Bird, G. "An Objective Humor Test for Children." Psychological Bulletin 22 (1925): 137-138.

Borges, Marilyn, Patricia Barrett, and Janet Fox. "Humor Ratings of Sex-Stereotyped Jokes as a Function of Gender of Actor and Gender of Rater." Psychological Reports 47 (1980): 1135-1138.

Bryant, Jennings, Dan Brown, Alan Silverberg, and Scott Elliott. "Relationship between College Teachers' Use of Humor in the Classroom and Students' Evaluations of their Teachers." Journal of Educational Psychology. 72 (1982): 511-519.

Cetola, Henry W. "Toward a Cognitive-Appraisal Model of Humor Appreciation." Humor: International Journal of Humor Research 1.3 (1988): 245-258.

Craik, Kenneth H., Martin D. Lampert, and Arvalea J. Nelson. "Sense of Humor and Styles of Every-Day Humorous Conduct" HUMOR: International Journal of Humor Research 9.3-4 (1996): 273-302.

Cupchik, G. C., and H. Leventhal. "Consistency between Expressive Behavior and the Evaluation of Humorous Stimuli: The Role of Sex and Self-Observation." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 30 (1974): 429-42.

Dana, Richard S. "Humor as a Diagnostic Tool in Child and Adolescent Groups." The Handbook of Humor: Clinical Applications to Psychotherapy. Malabar, FL: Krieger, 1994, 41-52

Deckers, Lambert. "On the Validity of a Weight-Judging Paradigm for the Study of Humor." HUMOR: International Journal of Humor Research 6.1 (1993): 43-56.

Deckers, Lambert, L. Kuhlhorst, and L. Freeland. "The Affects of Spontaneous and/or Voluntary Facial Reactions on Surprise and Finniness Ratings." Motivation and Emotion 11 (1987): 403-12.

Deckers, Lambert, and Willibald Ruch. "Sensation Seeking and the Situational Humor Response Questionnaire--Its Relationship in American and German Samples, Personality and Individual Differences." 13.9 (1992): 1051-1054.

Deckers, Lambert, and Willibald Ruch. "The Situational Humor Response Questionnaire as a Test of Sense of Humor--A Validity Study in the Field of Humor Appreciation." Personality and Individual Difference 13.10 (1992): 1149-1152.

Derks, Peter. "Category and Ratio Scaling of Sexual and Innocent Cartoons." Humor: International Journal of Humor Research 5.4 (1992): 319-330.

Eysenk, H. J. "An Experimental Analysis of Five Tests of the Appreciation of Humor." Educational and Psychological Measurements. 3 (1943): 191-241.

Feingold, D. A. "Measuring Humor--A Pilot Study." Perceptual and Motor Skills 54.3 (1982): 986.

Feingold, Allan, and Ronald Mazzella. "Psychometric Intelligence and Verbal Humor Ability." Personality and Individual Differences 12.5 (1991): 427-435.

Fine, G. A. "Components of Perceived Sense of Humor Ratings on Self and Others." Psychological Reports 36 (1975): 793-94.

Franzini, Louis R., and Susan Haggerty. "Humor Assessment of Corporate Managers and Humor Seminar and Personality Students." HUMOR: International Journal of Humor Research 7.4 (1994): 341-350.

Frecknall, Peter. "Good Humor: A Qualitative Study of the Uses of Humor in Everyday Life." Psychology: A Journal of Human Behavior 31.1 (1994): 12-21.

Gallivan, J., J. A. Thorson, and F. C. Powell. "Development and Validation of a Multidimensional Sense of Humor Scale." Journal of Clinical Psychology 49.1 (1993): 13-23.

Gavanski, I. "Differential Sensitivity of Humor Ratings and Mirth Responses to Cognitive and Effective Components of the Humor Response." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 51.1 (1986): 209-214.

Godkewitsch, Michael. "Physiological and Verbal Indices of Arousal in Rated Humour." Humor and Laughter: Theory, Research, and Applications. Eds. Antony J. Chapman, and Hugh C. Foot. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction, 1996, 117-138.

Graham, Elizabeth E., Michael J. Papa, and Gordon P. Brooks. "Functions of Humor in Conversation: Conceptualization and Measurement." Western Journal of Communication 56.2 (1992): 161-183.

Hampes, William P. "Relationship Between Intimacy and the Multidimensional Sense of Humor Scale." Psychological Reports 74.3 (1994): 1360-1362.

Hehl, F.-J. and Willibald Ruch. "Conservatism as a Predictor of Responses to Humour: III. The Prediction of Appreciation of Incongruity-Resolution Based Humour by Content Saturated Attitude Scales in Five Samples." Personality and Individual Differences 11 (1990): 439-445.

Köhler and Willibald Ruch. "Sources of Variance in Current Sense of Humor Inventories: How Much Substance, How Much Method Variance?" HUMOR: International Journal of Humor Research 9.3-4 (1996): 363-397.

Korotkov, David. "An Exploratory Factor Analysis of the Sense of Humour Personality Construct: A Pilot Project." Personality and Individual Differences 12.5 (1991): 395-397.

Lefcourt, Herbert M., and Rod A. Martin. Humor and Life Stress: Antidote to Adversity. New York, NY: Springer Verlag, 1986.

Leventhal, H., and G. Cupchik. "A Process Model of Humor Judgement." Journal of Communication 26.3 (1976): 190-205.

Losco, J., and S. Epstein. "Humor Preference as a Subtle Measure of Attitudes Toward the Same and the Opposite Sex." Journal of Personality 43 (1975): 321-34.

McCullough, Lynette S. "A Cross-Cultural Test of the Two-Part Typology of Humor." Perceptual and Motor Skills 76.3 (1993): 1275-1281.

McGhee, Paul E., and Sally A. Lloyd. "A Developmental Test of the Disposition Theory of Humor." Child Development 52 (1981): 925-31.

McMorris, Robert F., Sandra L. Urbach, and Michael C. Connor. "Effects of Incorporating Humor in Test Items." Journal of Educational Measurement. 22.2 (1985): 147-55.

Mair, Michael, and John Kirkland. "Mirth Measurement: A New Technique." It's a Funny Thing, Humour. Eds. Antony Chapman and Hugh Foot. NY: Pergamon, 1977, 105-112.

Martin, Rod A. "The Situational Humor Response Questionnaire (SHRQ) and Coping Humor Scale (CHS): A Decade of Research Findings" HUMOR: International Journal of Humor Research 9.3-4 (1996): 251-272.

Martin, Rod. A., and Herbert. M. Lefcourt. "Situational Humor Response Questionnaire: Quantitative Measure of Sense of Humor." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 47.1 (1984): 145-155.

Masten, Ann. "Humor and Competence in School-Aged Children." Child Development. 57 (1986): 461-473.

Mindess, Harvey, Carolyn Miller, Joy Turek, Amanda Bender, and Suzanne Corbin. The Antioch Humor Test. NY: Avon, 1985.

Moran, Carmen C., and M. Massam. "An Evaluation of Humour in Emergency Work." The Australasian Journal of Disaster and Trauma Studies 3 (1997): 26-38.

Moses, N. W., and M. M. Friedman. "Using Humor in Evaluating Student Performance." Journal of Nursing Education 25 (1986): 328-333.

Newton, Geraldine R., and Dowd E. Thomas. "Effect of Client Sense of Humor and Paradoxical Interventions on Test Anxiety." Journal of Counseling and Development 68.6 (1990): 668-672.

Nilsen, Alleen Pace, and Don L. F. Nilsen. Encyclopedia of Humor and Comedy. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press, 1999.

Nilsen, Don L. F., and Alleen Pace Nilsen, eds. "Testing Humor." WHIMSY. 6 (1988): 331-336.

Olson, James , Gregory R. Maio, and Karen L. Hobden. "The (Null) Effects of Exposure to Disparagement Humor on Stereotypes and Attitudes." HUMOR: International Journal of Humor Research 12.2 (1999): 195-220.

Parisi, R. L., and W. A. Kayson. "Effects of Sex, Year in School and Type of Cartoon on Ratings of Humor and Likeability." Psychological Reports 62 (1988): 563-66.

Pien, Diana, and Mary K. Rothbart. "Measuring Effects of Incongruity and Resolution in Children's Humour." It's a Funny Thing, Humour. Eds. Antony Chapman and Hugh Foot. NY: Pergamon, 1977, 211-14.

Prado, C. G. "Why Analysis of Humor Seems Funny." HUMOR: International Journal of Humor Research 8.2 (1995): 155-165.

Prerost, Frank J. "Presentation of Humor and Facilitation of a Relaxation Response among Internal and External Scorers on Rotter's Scale." Psychological Reports 72.3 (1993): 1248-1250.

Ruch, Willibald. "Assessment of Appreciation of Humor: Studies with the 3 WD Humor Test." Advances in Personality Assessment, Volume 9. Eds. J. N. Putcher, and C. D. Spielberger. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1992, 27-72.

Ruch, Willibald. "Measurement Approaches to the Sense of Humor: Introduction and Overview." HUMOR: International Journal of Humor Research 9.3-4 (1996): 239-250.

Ruch, Willibald, ed. The Sense of Humor: Explorations of a Personality Characteristic. New York, NY: Mouton de Gruyter, 1998.

Ruch, Willibald. "Temperament, Eysenck's PEN System, and Humor-Related Traits." HUMOR: International Journal of Humor Research 7.3 (1994): 209-244.

Ruch, Willibald, Salvatore Attardo, and Victor Raskin. "Towards an Empirical Verification of the General Theory of Verbal Humor." HUMOR: International Journal of Humor Research 6.2 (1993): 123-136.

Ruch, Willibald, and Lambert Deckers. "Do Extroverts Like to Laugh? An Analysis of the Situational Humor Response Questionnaire." European Journal of Personality 7.4 (1993): 211-220.

Ruch, Willibald, and Franz-Josef Hehl. "Conservatism as a Predictor of Responses to Humour: I. A Comparison of Four Scales." Personality and Individual Differences 7 (1986): 1-14.

Ruch, Willibald, and Franz-Joseph Hehl. "Conservatism as a Predictor of Responses to Humour: II. The Location of Sense of Humour in a Comprehensive Attitude Space." Personality and Individual Differences 7 (1986): 861-874.

Ruch, Willibald, and Franz-Josef Hehl. "Humor Appreciation and Needs--Evidence from Questionnaire Self Rating and Peer-Rating Data." Personality and Individual Differences 15.4 (1993): 433-445.

Ruch, Willibald, Gabriele Köhler, and Christoph van Thriel. "Assessing the `Humorous Temparment': Construction of the Facet and Standard Trait Forms of the State-Trait-Cheerfulness-Inventory--STCI." HUMOR: International Journal of Humor Research 9.3-4 (1996): 303-340.

Ruxton, J., and M. Hesler. "Humor: Assessment and Interventions." The International Journal of Aging and Human Development 25.1 (1987): 13-21.

Sheehy-Skeffington, Alan. "The Measurement of Humour Appreciation." It's a Funny Thing, Humour. Eds. Antony Chapman and Hugh Foot. NY: Pergamon, 1977, 447-50.

Shultz, T. R. "A Cognitive-Developmental Analysis of Humour." Humour and Laughter: Theory, Research, and Applications. Eds. A. J. Chapman and H. C. Foot. London: John Wiley, 1976.

Sultanoff, S. (Fall, 1999). Where Has All My Humor Gone; Long Time Passing...Humor from Children to Adults, The "President's Column" in Therapeutic Humor, Publication of the American Association for Therapeutic Humor, Vol. XIII, 4, p. 2.

Sultanoff, S. (Summer, 1999). Examining the Research on Humor: Being Cautious About Our Conclusions the "President's Column" in Therapeutic Humor,  Publication of the American Association for Therapeutic Humor, Vol. XIII, (3), P. 3.

Sultanoff, S. (Winter, 1999). Tickling Our Funny Bone; Humor Matters in Health , AhHa! Furthering the Understanding of Holistic Health, The Newsletter of the American Holistic Health Association, Vol. 5, No. 1, p.  4.

Sultanoff, S. (Fall, 1998). Humor and Wellness--Melding the Present and the Future: Humor and Heart Disease. Therapeutic Humor, Publication of the American Association for Therapeutic Humor, 12 (5), 1-2.

Sultanoff, S. (Winter, 1994). Choosing to Be Amusing; Assessing an Individual's Receptivity to Therapeutic Humor. Journal of Nursing Jocularity, 4 (4), 34-35.

Sultanoff, S. (July/August, 1994). Exploring the Land of Mirth and Funny; A Voyage Through the Interrelationships of Wit, Mirth, and Laughter. Laugh It Up, Publication of the American Association for Therapeutic Humor, 3.

Svebak, Sven. "The Development of the Sense of Humor Questionnaire: From SHQ to SHQ-6." HUMOR: International Journal of Humor Research 9.3-4 (1996): 341-362.

Svebak, Sven. "The Development of the Tension and Effort Stress Inventory (TESI): NOTE Section on `Sense of Humor.'" Advances in Reversal Theory Eds. J. H. Kerr, S. Murgatroyd, and M. J. Apter. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier, 1993, 189-204.

Svebak, Sven. "Revised Questionnaire on the Sense of Humor." Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 15 (1974): 328-331.

Svebak, Sven. "Three Attitude Dimensions of Sense of Humor as Predictors of Laughter." Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 15 (1974): 185-190.

Svebak, Sven, and Michael J. Apter. "Laughter: An Empirical Test of Some Reversal Theory Hypotheses." Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 28 (1987): 189-198.

Thorson, James A., and F. C. Powell. "Development and Validation of a Multidimensional Sense of Humor Scale." Journal of Clinical Psychology 49.1 (1993): 13-23.

Thorson, James A., and F. C. Powell. "Measurement of Sense of Humor." Psychological Reports 69.2 (1991): 691-702.

Townsend, Michael A. R., and Peggy Mahoney. "Humor and Anxiety: Effects on Class Test Performance." Psychology in the Schools 18 (1981): 228-34.

Townsend, Michael A. R., Peggy Mahoney, and Linda G. Allen. "Student Perceptions of Verbal and Cartoon Humor in the Test Situation." Educational Research Quarterly 7.4 (1983): 17-23.

Trice, A., and J. Price. "Joking under the Drill: A Validity Study of the Coping Humor Scale." Journal of Social Behavior and Personality 1.2 (1986): 265-266.

Vitulli, William F., and Jane M. Barbin. "Humor Value Assessment as a Function of Sex, Age, and Education." Psychological Reports 69.3 (1991): 1155-1164.

Warnars-Kleverlaan, N., Louis Oppenheimer, and Larry Sherman. "To Be or Not To Be Humorous: Does It Make a Difference? HUMOR: International Journal of Humor Studies 9.2 (1996): 117-141.

Yoder, M. A., and R. H. Haude. "Sense of Humor and Longevity: Older Adults' Self-Ratings Compared with Ratings for Deceased Siblings." Psychological Reports 76 (1995): 945-946.

Ziv, Avner, Eli Gorenstein, and Anat Moris. "Adolescents' Evaluation of Teachers Using Disparaging Humour." Educational Psychology. 6.1 (1986): 37-44.