Previous research has shown that humor production is a distinctly human activity. Although other animals play in the pursuit of pleasure, humans are the only ones who do so through communication. Moreover, humor has been found to play an integral role in the development and maintenance of interpersonal relationships as well as a pervasive aspect of our daily lives. Surprisingly little is known, however, about the ways in which individuals determine when to use or not use humor. Further, no theoretical framework currently exists to help corral the somewhat harried subject.
This dissertation introduces a rhetorical humor framework as an approach to the study of humor in an effort to expand our current understanding from a broader communicative perspective. Further, a study is presented in which the results support that this is a needed step forward in the understanding of humor as a communicative phenomenon. In particular, the results demonstrate the need to move beyond trait humor explanations for humor use and call for closer inspection of situational and interpersonal variables influencing humor production.