title: People from cultures with strict social norms tend to be less skilled at being funny. These findings suggest that the ability to generate humor is not just an inborn personality trait, but a skill heavily shaped by the social rules of the environment in which a person lives.
author: u/InsaneSnow45
contenttype: redditpost
publication: r/science
published: 2026-02-27T19:29:19+00:00
sourceurl: https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/1rggd6r/peoplefromcultureswithstrictsocial_norms/
word_count: 611
Link: https://www.psypost.org/cultural-tightness-reduces-a-persons-ability-to-be-funny/
Score: 5157 | Comments: 251 | Subreddit: r/science
Top Comments
u/talligan (211 pts):
Our family has the loose social norms down pat, which is great. But I'm worried I'm not traumatising my toddler enough to really develop that sense of humour, how much is the right amount?
u/nondual_gabagool (138 pts):
Not too many Swiss comedians
u/InsaneSnow45 (59 pts):
A recent study published in American Psychologist provides evidence that people from cultures with strict social norms tend to be less skilled at coming up with funny material compared to those from more relaxed cultures. These findings suggest that the ability to generate humor is not just an inborn personality trait, but a skill heavily shaped by the social rules of the environment in which a person lives. Understanding this dynamic can help people communicate more effectively and avoid misunderstandings in diverse, multicultural settings.
Humor is a universal human behavior that brings people together, but what is considered funny in one part of the world might lead to awkward silence or even legal trouble in another. For example, comedians in certain nations have faced severe backlash for making jokes about sensitive topics like the military. Scientists wanted to understand why these cultural differences in humor exist and what specific factors drive them.
The researchers focused on a concept called cultural tightness. Cultural tightness refers to how strictly a society enforces its social norms and rules, along with how harshly it punishes those who break them. They suspected that because making a joke usually involves breaking a rule or violating an expectation, strict societies might discourage people from developing their comedic skills.
“Our interest in this topic stems from a long-standing curiosity about humor in Chinese culture. Previous research has shown that, compared to people in Western countries like the United States or Canada, Chinese individuals tend to produce less humor,” explained study authors Yi Cao, a postdoctoral researcher at Peking University and Cornell University, and Li-Jun Ji, a professor at Queen’s University.
“This raised a simple yet important question: why? Earlier studies have offered broad cultural explanations?for example, the influence of Confucian values. While this makes sense, it left us wondering: what exactly within Confucianism contributes to this lower humor production? And more importantly, how could we test these ideas empirically?”
u/username__0000 (167 pts):
There’s that saying “are you funny or did you have a good childhood”
Most people I’ve met who experienced some messed up stuff or trauma are the funniest people I know.
So yeah humour seems something that happens through experience more so than you’re born with it.
u/uberclont (14 pts):
I often talk to Amish and Mennonite customers. They are very plain spoke and don’t joke.
u/EnigmaticGolem (39 pts):
Explains why all heavily conservative "humor" is just dehumanizing an outgroup and nothing else
u/stonedkayaker (53 pts):
A Serpent guard, a Horus guard and a Setesh guard meet on a neutral planet.
It is a tense moment.
The Serpent guard's eyes glow.
The Horus guard's beak glistens.
The Setesh guard's nose...drips.
u/TemporaryView3303 (61 pts):
This might explain why conservatives aren’t funny.
u/vm_linuz (147 pts):
Hence why conservative humor is so terrible
u/ewartstone (12 pts):
A dog walks into a bar and says ‘I can’t see a thing’. I’ll open this one.’
u/catscanmeow (41 pts):
the structure of the language matters a lot too
for example, the order of when the noun and the adjective happens
english for example we describe the object before we say what the object is. "i want to suck a big juicy...cactus" is more funny and surprising than "i want to suck a big cactus...juicy" Romance languages say what the object is before describing it often
u/browhodouknowhere (30 pts):
Sometimes i hate being german…this is one of those times
u/boilingfrogsinpants (5 pts):
Makes sense. My grandfather was strict with my dad and uncles on most things, but loved witty jokes. This transferred down to my father and his brothers, onto my cousins, myself, and my sister. So much so that the family declares it as a characteristic of being part of the family. There's no reason to believe we were all born with the same witty sense of humour, but that it was something that was created and fostered in the family environment.
u/mxemec (17 pts):
Good sarcasm is hard to replicate. A sarcastic comment can contain many layers: the direct message indicates technical truth. The tone indicates its not to be taken serious. The eyes and body language can further inform you that there's nuances of truth that can be observed. All these conflicting cues surprise the systems and create miniature shocks in the sympathetic nervous system. The body laughs.
Laughter is a way to resolve complex or unresolved but non threatening messages from the outside world. Some cultures do not observe these nuances.
u/EuphoricEye2950 (14 pts):
environment restricts peoples behaviour. If you have an authoritarian environment that punishes you every time you speak or make a joke like in middle east countries and in china punished for criticizing xi. Development of comedy is too difficult. And in other environments authoritarian punished critical thinking then you cant ever question or think creative.
u/Korgoth420 (12 pts):
Germany, Japan… im looking at you
u/WazWaz (8 pts):
Or you are born with it, then it's socially suppressed.
u/NoProposal3140 (7 pts):
People from cultures with strict social norms tend to be less skilled at being funny according to people from completely different cultures*