Children find others’ misfortune funnier than adults

This study investigated the perceived funniness of misfortune in children and adults, examining the role of the misfortune victims’ facial expressions. Participants included 100 psychology undergraduates and 97 4- to 5-year-olds from a middle-European country. Participants were presented with pictures where misfortune victims exhibited either angry or painful expressions (affective), funny expressions (comic), or no visible facial expression (no-face). Children and adults rated comic pictures as the funniest, followed by no-face pictures, and affective pictures as the least funny. This suggests that children and adults perceive humor in misfortune similarly, in alignment with facial expressions. However, children rated all categories of images as funnier than adults, indicating a generally heightened amusement. While children appear to consider the victims’ facial expressions when judging humor (i.e., understanding of victim distress vs. bewilderment), their responses may be more strongly influenced by the unexpected nature of the misfortune compared to adults. As children develop, their ability to integrate facial expressions with the unexpected nature of misfortune may become more pronounced, leading to a more nuanced understanding of humor.