Understanding Asexuality

A corollary of this type of tension-release theory of humor, at least of the classical Freudian version, is that once we laugh and tension is released, we should not only feel relieved but also have less of a need to release this energy in other ways, because the tension is, presumably, gone. Thus, a “catharsis” should occur, a temporary reduction of pent-up psychic energy and, importantly, a decreased tendency to engage in the tension-causing behavior. For example, if sex caused our tension, which has now been released in the form of a sexual joke, we should have a decreased need to have sex or a sexual outlet.

Is there modern scientific support for this tension-reduction model of humor, given that it is associated with some relatively ancient and oft-criticized theorists, such as Freud? There is, at least for some basic elements of the theory. Several relatively modern theorists of humor argue that some kind of tension is often important for and can enhance humor, particularly in humorous situations that evoke the act of laughter or other overtly mirthful reactions. For example, in a study by psychologists Dolf Zillmann and Jennings Bryant (1980), the authors found that when tension is high, people laugh and express more mirth. More specific to sexuality, though, there is also evidence that people who report a high degree of sexual desire (sexual tension) seem to enjoy sexual humor more than those who report lower sexual desire (Prerost, 1995).

But is there evidence that sexual tension can be unconsciously channeled into sexual humor, or what might be construed as “humor-like” behavior? The evidence here is indirect. Two studies in the 1980s suggested that sexual titillation makes men susceptible to creating inadvertent sexual puns or double entendres (Motley & Camden, 1985). In both of these studies, men thought they were in a fairly mundane “language and dialect” research experiment. This was a guise to hide the true goal of the studies: the investigation of Freudian humor-like behavior. In the first study, the researchers found that men more likely to complete sentences with sexual charged-meanings if they had a sexy female experimenter conduct the study than men who had a male (and thus presumably not so sexy) experimenter. For example, in the presence of a sexy female experimenter, men often completed the sentence “The lid won’t stay on regardless of how much I” with the words screw it. This phrase has, of course, more sexual meaning than other ways of completing this sentence (e.g., tighten it, turn it). In a second, related study, the men who had the most “repressed” sexual personalities were the most likely to be susceptible to these types of inadvertent sexual puns. Presumably, the erotic tension created by the sexy female experimenter was unconsciously channeled into a subtle form of sexual expression and hence partially released in the form of these sexual puns and double entendres.