Humor development in childhood: a critical review
https://doi.org/10.26907/esd.20.1.07
EDN: MOPBJN
Abstract
Humor in children becomes an important topic for studies, but still remains underestimated. There are several directions of children humor research that need a thorough critical analysis. The purpose of the study involves identifying the main trends in the study of the sense of humor in children in actual scientific works. The main method of the critical review was a bibliographic analysis of sources published since 2000, found in the international citation databases Scopus and Web of Science using the VOSviewer tool. This tool made it possible to identify the total number of publications for the search query "humor" and "children" with further identification of keywords. When filtering keywords, clusters were obtained that form conceptual spaces around which the topics of research for children humor were formed. The search for the specified conditions found 624 records in the Scopus database and 380 records in Web of Science. A review of studies in international citation databases showed that publication topics are grouped into clusters reflecting the psychological, psychotherapeutic, clinical and humoral aspects of the study of the comic in childhood. Humor in childhood is considered either as a developing phenomenon or as an independent value inherent in childhood.
About the Authors
L. Bayanova
Lomonosov Moscow State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Larisa Bayanova
Moscow
N. Veraksa
Lomonosov Moscow State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Nikolay Veraksa
Moscow
E. Oshchepkova
Lomonosov Moscow State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Ekaterina Oshchepkova
Moscow
References
1. Artem’eva, T. V. (2021). Humor of children: the content of the construct and the methodology of its evaluation. Sovremennoe doshkol’noe obrazovanie - Modern preschool education, 3(105), 46–59. https://doi.org/10.24412/1997-9657-2021-3105-46-59
2. Bariaud, F. (1989). Chapter 1: Age Differences in Children’s Humor. Journal of Children in Contemporary Society, 20(1-2), 15–45. https://doi.org/10.1300/J274v20n01_03
3. Belolutskaya, A. K., Vachkova, S. N., & Patarakin E. D. (2023). The Connection of the Digital Learning Component with the Development of Preschool and School-age Children: A Review of Research and International Educational Practices. Obrazovanie i samorazvitie - Education and Self Development, 18(2), 37–55. https://doi.org/10.26907/esd.18.2.04
4. Bergen, D. (1989). Characteristics of young children’s expression of humour in home settings as observed by parents. International Journal of Educology, 3(2), 124–135.
5. Bönsch-Kauke, M. (2003). Psychologie des Kinderhumors: Schulkinder unter sich. [Psychology of children’s humor: Schoolchildren among themselves]. Leske + Budrich. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-322-80898-1
6. Boyle, F., & Stack, N. (2014). An explorative study into the possible benefits of using humor in creative tasks with a class of primary five pupils. HUMOR, 27(2), 287–306. https://doi.org/10.1515/humor-2014-0029
7. Burdette, H. L., & Whitaker, R. C. (2005). Resurrecting free play in young children: looking beyond fitness and fatness to attention, affiliation, and affect. Archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine, 159(1), 46–50. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpedi.159.1.46
8. Damra, J. K., Akour, M. M., & Al Omari, O. (2024). Stress and loneliness: exploring adolescents’ use of social media as a coping strategy during COVID-19. Nursing children and young people, 36(1), 26–32. https://doi.org/10.7748/ncyp.2023.e1456
9. Fogel, A., Nelson-Goens, G. C., & Hsu, H. (2000). Do Different Infant Smiles Reflect Different Positive Emotions? Social Development, 9, 497–520.
10. Ger, E., Daum, M. M., & Manfredi, M. (2024) Children’s recognition of slapstick humor is linked to their Theory of Mind. Front. Cognit., 3, 1369638. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcogn.2024.1369638
11. Gomberg, J., Raviv, A., Fenig, E., & Meiri, N. (2020). Saving Costs for Hospitals Through Medical Clowning: A Study of Hospital Staff Perspectives on the Impact of the Medical Clown. Clinical medicine insights. Pediatrics, 14, 117955652090937. https://doi.org/10.1177/1179556520909376
12. Herzfeld, E., & Prager, F. (1930). Verständnis für Scherz und Komik beim Kinde. [Children’s understanding of jokes and humor]. Zeitschrift für angewandte Psychologie, 34, 353–417.
13. Hoicka, E., Soy Telli, B., Prouten, E., Leckie, G., Browne, W. J., Mireault, G., & Fox, C. (2022). The Early Humor Survey (EHS): A reliable parent-report measure of humor development for 1- to 47-month-olds. Behavior research methods, 54(4), 1928–1953. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-021-01704-4
14. Hudenko, W. J., Stone, W., & Bachorowski, JA. (2009). Laughter differs in children with autism: an acoustic analysis of laughs produced by children with and without the disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 39(10), 1392–1400. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-009-0752-1
15. Javed, T., Khan, A. S., Jarral, N. A., Taqi, Z., Raza, M., & Shahid, Z. (2021). Medical clowning: a cost effective way to reduce stress among children undergoing invasive procedures. Cureus, 13(10). https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.18886
16. Juen, B., & Bänninger-Huber, E. (1999). Conflict regulation in early mother-child dyads: on the role of smiling during conflict episodes. 8th European Conference on “Facial Expression, Measurement and Meaning”, Saarbrücken (Germany), September 27–30.
17. Kozintsev, A. G., & Butovskaya, M. L. (1997). About children, gods and monkeys. Etnograficheskoe obozrenie - Ethnographic Review, 3, 111–115.
18. Liebertz, C. (2007). Lachen und bilden ein Traumpaar – Bedeutung des Lachens für das Lernen. [Laughter and education are a dream team – the importance of laughter for learning]. Unsere Kinder – Das Fachjournal für Bildung und Betreuung in der frühen Kindheit, 62(3), 10–13.
19. Loizou, E. (2005). Infant humor: the theory of the absurd and the empowerment theory. International Journal of Early Years Education, 13(1), 43–53. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669760500048329
20. Manfredi, M., Proverbio, A. M., Gonçalves Donate, A. P., Macarini Gonçalves Vieira, S., Comfort, W. E., De Araújo Andreoli, M., & Boggio, P. S. (2017). tDCS application over the STG improves the ability to recognize and appreciate elements involved in humor processing. Experimental brain research, 235(6), 1843–1852. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-017- 4932-5
21. Martin, R. (2006). The psychology of humor: an integrative approach. Academic Press.
22. McGhee, P. E. (2014). Humor and children's development. A guide to practical applications. Routledge.
23. McGhee, P. E. (1979). Humor: Its Origin and Development. Freeman.
24. Meiri, N., Ankri, A., Hamad-Saied, M., Konopnicki, M., & Pillar, G. (2016). The effect of medical clowning on reducing pain, crying, and anxiety in children aged 2-10 years old undergoing venous blood drawing – a randomized controlled study. European journal of pediatrics, 175(3), 373–379. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-015-2652-z
25. Paine, A. L., Hashmi, S., Howe, N., Johnson, N., Scott, M., & Hay, D. F. (2022). “A pirate goes nee-nor-nee-nor!” humor with siblings in middle childhood: A window to social understanding? Developmental Psychology, 58(10), 1986–1998. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001403
26. Piaget, J. (1967). Six psychological studies. New York, NY: Vintage.
27. Rokotyanskaya, L. O. (2018). The main stages of developing children’s sense of humor. Politekhnicheskiy molodezhnyy zhurnal - Politechnical student journal, 5, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.18698/2541-8009-2018-05-316
28. Ruch, W. (1996). Measurement approaches to the sense of humor: Introduction and overview. HUMOR, 9(3-4), 239–250. https://doi.org/10.1515/humr.1996.9.3-4.239
29. Sarra, S., & Otta, E. (2001). Different types of smiles and laughter in preschool children. Psychological Reports, 89(3), 547–558. https://doi.org/10.2466/PR0.89.7.547-558
30. Shiyan, O. A. (2022). Funny and scary in children’s narratives: cognitive aspect. Natsional’nyy psikhologicheskiy zhurnal - National Psychological Journal, 3(47), 44–51. https://doi.org/10.11621/npj.2022.0306
31. Singer, E. (2019). Humor, Social Laughing, and Pleasure to Function: Three Sources of Laughter That Are Intrinsically Connected in Early Childhood. In E. Loizou & S. L. Recchia (Eds.), Research on Young Children’s Humor. Educating the Young Child. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15202-4_3
32. Veraksa, N. E., Bayanova, L. F., & Artem’eva, T. V. (2023). Psychology of Laughter in a StructuralDialectical Approach. Kul'turno-istoricheskaya psikhologiya - Cultural-Historical Psychology, 19(3), 93–101. https://doi.org/10.17759/chp.2023190311
33. Vrticka, P., Black, J. M., & Reiss, A. L. (2013). The neural basis of humour processing. Nature reviews. Neuroscience, 14(12), 860–868. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3566
34. Williams, B. (2020). Dimensions & VOSViewer Bibliometrics in the Reference Interview. The Code4Lib Journal, 47. https://journal.code4lib.org/articles/14964
35. Wolfenstein, M. (1953). Children’s Understanding of Jokes. The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 8(1), 162–173. https://doi.org/10.1080/00797308.1953.11822767
Review
For citations:
Bayanova L., Veraksa N., Oshchepkova E. Humor development in childhood: a critical review. Title. 2025;20(1):89-102. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.26907/esd.20.1.07. EDN: MOPBJN
Views:
3
Email this article 