A research for potential application of self-directed humor aimed at bullying prevention: With focusing on Aikido-humor as response to aggressive utterance

Abstract

In this study, we viewed self-directed humor as “Aikido-humor” by using the analogy of martial art, Aikido. The objective of this study is to evaluate its possible application to preventing bullying. A role-play experiment was conducted with 26 groups, each consists of three university students who had friendly relationship with each other, totally 78 subjects. We asked one of the three members of each group to respond with self-directed humor to aggressive utterance made by another while two sets of six-minute conversation under two different conditions: without and with an observer. The result suggests that the aggressive speaker feels like to reduce emotional distance with the respondent who responds to the aggressive utterance with self-directed humor. On the other hand, it was observed that the aggressive speaker doesn’t feel affinity for the respondent when there is a third party who doesn’t involved in the conversation even if the respondent responds with self-directed humor. Thus self-directed humor, here considered as Aikido-humor, may function as a kind of management communication which tends to make the interpersonal relationship of conversing parties negative while maintaining the mood of conversation when there is a third party. However, further consideration would be needed to make it a practical method to prevent bullying because it is also associated with risks such as encouraging aggression and making detection of victims difficult.