Incongruity theory

Incongruity theory explains humor as a response to a mismatch between expectations and what occurs. It emphasizes the perception and resolution of that mismatch.

Incongruity-resolution theory: A humor theory in which amusement follows when an apparent mismatch is resolved through a reinterpretation. It specifies how a surprising punchline can become intelligible and funny.
Relief theory: A theory that explains humor as the release of psychological tension or inhibited impulses. It locates humor’s source in released tension, not in violated expectations.
Francis Hutcheson: An eighteenth-century Scottish philosopher whose writings addressed laughter, wit, and the perception of incongruity. His account helped formulate incongruity as a source of laughter.
Humor: Communication or behavior that evokes amusement, laughter, or a sense of the comic. Incongruity theory is one account of how humor produces amusement.
Punch line: The concluding part of a joke that delivers its decisive turn or surprise. It commonly supplies the unexpected outcome that violates a joke’s setup.
Superiority theory: A theory that explains some humor through pleasure in another’s error or inferiority. It explains ridicule through social comparison rather than surprise.
James Beattie: An eighteenth-century Scottish philosopher who wrote about laughter and the perception of incongruity. He developed an influential early explanation of laughter through contrasting ideas.
Joke: A short form of expression designed to provoke amusement, often through surprise or wordplay. Many jokes create amusement by arranging an expectation and a mismatch.
Set-up and punchline: A joke structure that establishes an expectation and then overturns it with a concluding line. The structure makes expectation and violation especially clear.
Benign violation theory: A theory that humor arises when something seems both wrong or threatening and harmless. It adds perceived harmlessness to the account of comic violations.

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