The occasioning of self-disclosure humor

Humor can be an effective means for introducing or modulating a discussion on matters of personal importance. In this paper, we examine the circumstances under which humor appears in conversational self-disclosures with friends. In an exploratory sample of 94 cases of self-disclosing humor from natural peer conversations, we found humorous self-disclosures and self-disclosures accompanied by laughter to occur in the continuation of an ongoing topic within the contexts of humorous rounds, troubles talk, complex narration, and entertainments. We also found humorous self-disclosures to be involved in topic changes within conversation and as reactions to accidents and teasing. We provided extensive examples of each type of humorous self-disclosure and discuss these illustrations in light of prior research on gender differences. … so I walked crooked up on the stage. [other women laugh] UC Disclab WCON1