Incongruity as a universal component of humor appreciation: Some Hong Kong data

The development of a humor measure was described in a brief report in this journal. In that report, a series of suitable-congruous and incongruous pictures were developed with a community sample of children. The findings of that study were consistent with those reported by others (Chik, 2001; Masten, 1989; Schultz, 1972), indicating that incongruity is an essential component of humor appreciation. With a larger (n=140) and more representative sample, we embarked on a follow-up validation study. The findings of the present study provide further support for the universality of the incongruity as an essential component of hum or appreciation across age and cultures.