Humor perception in schizophrenia appears to be related to disorganization syndrome

Artur Daren; Przemysław Adamczyk; Piotr Błądziński; Andrzej Cechnicki

doi:10.1016/j.comppsych.2019.152149

Humor perception in schizophrenia appears to be related to disorganization syndrome

Compr Psychiatry. 2020 Jan:96:152149. doi: 10.1016/j.comppsych.2019.152149. Epub 2019 Nov 20.

Authors

Artur Daren¹, Przemysław Adamczyk², Piotr Błądziński³, Andrzej Cechnicki³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Community Psychiatry, Chair of Psychiatry, Medical College, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland. Electronic address: artur.daren@uj.edu.pl.
² Psychophysiology Unit, Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland.
³ Department of Community Psychiatry, Chair of Psychiatry, Medical College, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland.

PMID: 31786489
DOI: 10.1016/j.comppsych.2019.152149

Abstract

Perception of humor seems to be often disturbed in schizophrenia, yet current literature is limited and ambiguous on its relationship to psychopathology. A sample of 40 schizophrenia-diagnosed subjects provided humor comprehension and funniness ratings for 60 cartoons and 60 stories with funny, neutral and absurd punchlines. Disorganization syndrome was found to associate with deficits in humor comprehension and experienced funniness in non-humorous stimuli after controlling for cognitive performance, age, sex and medication. The findings are discussed in relation to previous studies on the topic.

Keywords: Disorganization; Joke comprehension; Joke funniness; Psychopathology; Social skill.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Comprehension*
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Schizophrenia*
Schizophrenic Psychology*
Social Skills*
Wit and Humor as Topic / psychology*
Young Adult