Humor Frequency as a Social-Affective Cue: How Humorous Pedagogical Agents Shape Learners’ Motivation, Emotions, and Perceived Agent Value

Humor can function as a powerful social-affective cue that shapes learners’ emotional and motivational experiences in digital learning environments. This study investigated how humorous pedagogical agents influence intrinsic motivation, positive emotions, and perceived agent value across two between-subjects 2×2 experiments. Experiment 1 used a Humor × Watching dialogue design, and Experiment 2 used a Humor frequency × Mental load design. University students were randomly assigned to conditions in each experiment. Data were analyzed using SPSS factorial ANOVA, followed by simple effect analyses for significant interactions. In Experiment 1, agent humor enhanced intrinsic motivation, positive emotions, and perceived agent value, while watching dialogue suppressed positive emotions without hindering knowledge transfer. In Experiment 2, higher humor frequency increased positive emotions and Human-likeness in perceived agent value, and interacted with mental load to buffer its negative impact on intrinsic motivation. These findings clarify the social-affective mechanisms through which humor and humor frequency support learners’ motivational and emotional engagement in cognitively demanding online contexts.