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Humor continues to refine throughout the early years, as a sign of intellectual development. So much so, that a joke told by a seven-year-old child leaves a seven-month-old baby speechless, and a seventeen-year-old adolescent mocking. How do you spot the beginnings of humor in a baby? What makes a six-month-old, a two-year-old or a six-year-old laugh? What does a teenager find funny?

The term « humor » is far from covering the same reality for everyone. Psychological researchers have nevertheless reached a consensus: humor is the deliberate manipulation of the incongruous (i.e. the oddity, the discrepancy created by the juxtaposition of two contradictory elements), for the purpose of entertainment. This incongruity leads to a conflict between the expected and the unexpected, and laughter or a smile is the natural consequence. The key to humor? The surprise effect.

Recognizing humor in the very young: a major mission

When it comes to spotting humor in very young children, psychologists are always at a loss. And with good reason. Pointing out humorous behavior in a baby remains an adult projection. In this sense, grasping the very first steps of humor is a highly complex quest. In the very young child, researchers speak of humor when an incongruous situation (in the baby’s eyes) elicits laughter or a smile from the child. But beware, not the reflex smile that appears from the very first hours of life, but the « cognitive » smile or laugh, testifying to superior information processing. According to Françoise Bariaud, a CNRS researcher specializing in the psychosocial development of children and adolescents, and a lecturer at the Laboratoire de Psychologie du Développement et de l’Education, a child’s sense of humor evolves with his or her development. As the child’s knowledge of the world grows, what is incongruous at one age will no longer be so at another, and vice versa. In short, there’s a sense of humor for every age! In fact, adult laughter plays a key role in children’s learning of humor. Each positive reaction from those around them will reinforce the child’s humorous behavior. So, step by step, the budding humorist will discover his or her power to amuse, to the point of tirelessly repeating the « jokes » that hit home!

0-2 years: objects and behaviors

What incongruity then makes a very young child smile or laugh? At five weeks, a child smiles at a moving human face, sticking out its tongue through a mask. Around the age of six months, children become more outward-looking and develop a particular interest in their immediate environment, namely their family. What makes them laugh? Unusual behaviors: a big brother making a face, dad imitating a monkey, or mom struggling to reproduce the cry of a seagull. At around twelve months, the onset of walking encourages them to explore their more distant environment, such as objects and their traditional uses… As a result, at around twenty months of age, children play at « pretending », i.e. at diverting the use of objects: a sheet of paper becomes a hat, a toothbrush a telephone, a wooden cube an excellent candy that they pretend to devour! According to Dr. Paul McGhee, a researcher specializing in humor and laughter who has taught at the Universities of New York and Texas, these pretend games, accompanied by laughter and smiles, mark the true birth of humor in children.

Ages 2 to 6: Words and their sounds

The development of language leads to the appearance of verbal humor, around the age of two. The child discovers words, and finds in them an inexhaustible source of amusement. Their greatest pleasure? Playing with words and their sound: calling their little sister by the name of the goldfish, inverting two names of objects, rhyming, inventing new words… And scatological humor, the famous pipi-caca, is sure to appeal to these budding humorists! However, Paul McGhee points out that up to the age of six, humor is mostly based on the incongruity or oddity of the shape of objects. For example, the sight of a bicycle with square wheels is bound to make a child laugh out loud!

From ages 6 to 11, a new playground: double entendre

The age of 6 marked a real turning point. His sense of humor became more refined, and was considerably closer to that of adults. His new playground? Jokes based on the double meaning of a word: « Would you like a glass (of water)? » laughs Lucie, offering her father a worm (of earth). This humor quickly diversified and enriched. According to Nelly Feuerhahn, a CNRS researcher specializing in the study of comedy, laughter and humor, and editor-in-chief of the magazine Humoresques, children aged six to eleven are also particularly fond of riddles and « crazy » stories. For example: « A madman is reading a telephone directory… Another madman comes along and asks: « Is your novel any good? – Yes, but there are too many characters! The key to the success of these jokes? The key to the success of these jokes is to highlight a major preoccupation of children of this age: the distinction between what is stupid and what is intelligent. And irony? Melanie Glenwright, a psychology researcher at the University of Manitoba in Canada and a specialist in children’s communication and social understanding, is interested in the emergence of irony and sarcasm, particularly elaborate forms of humor. Understanding irony, i.e. the discrepancy between discourse and reality, requires fairly well-developed skills. That’s why, at the Théâtre de Guignol, the puppets’ few ironic lines leave some of the children speechless, while others laugh out loud.

Adolescence or pure impulsivity!

Adolescents, in their pivotal period of life, never cease to fascinate psychologists for their inappropriateness and brutality, but also for their verve and realism. According to Jean-Bernard Chapelier, a specialist in adolescence, researcher at the Centre d’Etudes en Psychopathologie et Psychanalyse and lecturer at Paris Diderot University, adolescent humor deserves special attention. He points out that adolescent jokes are characterized by a high level of creativity and originality. Crude and daring, most of them deal with sadistic, sexual or even incestuous themes: « How do you get a baby out of a blender?… With a straw! » or « Daddy, what’s a transsexual?… Fasten my bra and don’t call me daddy anymore! The aim of these jokes? To provoke the audience and express fantasies. Jean-Bernard Chapelier suggests that these questions and answers not only enable teenagers to exorcise their sexual anxieties, but also to socialize within their peer group. Henri Danon-Boileau, psychiatrist, honorary member of the Société Psychanalytique de Paris and former head of clinic at the Paris Faculty of Medicine, points out that humor enables adolescents to gain autonomy and better define their identity. Every age has its share of jokes. However, humor remains highly personal. Often, the jokes of yesteryear can even resurface! What adult hasn’t laughed out loud at an animal imitation or an inappropriate adolescent joke? While some try to be witty and clever with their puns, others laugh at children’s jokes. Certainly, every age has its own sense of humor. To each his own, no doubt.

Read more

Françoise Bariaud (1983). La genèse de l’humour chez l’enfant, PUF Thomas R Shultz and Maureen B Scott (1974). The creation of verbal humor. Canadian Journal of Psychology, n°4, pages 421 to 425

Jean-Bernard Chapelier (2007). « Humor, love and sexuality in adolescent culture ». Adolescence, n°62, pages 847 to 860.

Martha Wolfenstein (2008). Development of a child’s sense of humor. Libres cahiers pour la psychanalyse, n°17, pages 121-139.