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REVIEW article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Educational Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1445362

Teaching and learning with instructional humor: A review of five-decades research and further direction

Provisionally accepted
WEICHEN ZHOU WEICHEN ZHOU 1,2*Jun Choi Lee Jun Choi Lee 1
  • 1 Faculty of Cognitive Sciences and Human Development, University of Malaysia Sarawak, Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia
  • 2 School of Teacher Education, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The discussion about how to use instructional humor in class to promote teaching and learning efficiency has always been a concern of researchers in recent decades. The present project summarizes extant studies on instructional humor and provides a detailed review of research findings. First, the definition and classification of instructional humor are overviewed. Then, the study introduces three theoretical frameworks, namely Instructional Humor Processing Theory (IHPT) and other two alternative models, which respectively based on Self-Determination Theory (SDT) or from an integrative perspective of cognition and affection, explaining how humor works in education settings. Based on the theoretical clarification of instructional humor, the paper further reviews existing empirical evidence regarding teachers' use of humor in class and its impact on students' learning, with emphasis on explaining inconsistencies in previous conclusions and identifying limitations in extant relevant works. The detailed analysis and comparison of previous results regarding instructional humor offer potential directions for further relevant research. Finally, the study concludes with feasible advice for teachers to maximize the positive benefits of humor in class.

    Keywords: Humor, Education, Instructional humor, learning performance, Comprehensive review

    Received: 07 Jun 2024; Accepted: 15 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 ZHOU and Lee. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: WEICHEN ZHOU, Faculty of Cognitive Sciences and Human Development, University of Malaysia Sarawak, Kota Samarahan, 94300, Sarawak, Malaysia

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.