以事件相關腦電位探討跨文化的幽默分析：臺灣受試者對美式諷刺的反應

Abstract

過去的跨文化研究認為，幽默（包含本研究所探討的諷刺性侮辱）因不同文化而異（Kalliny et al., 2006）。諷刺性侮辱雖然在美國文化中有創造力和娛樂性（Huang et al., 2015），但在台灣文化中卻被認為是間接攻擊個人並製造敵意的工具（Liao, 2001; Liao& Chang, 2006）。然而，隨著越來越多的社群媒體與西方喜劇的接觸，台灣人的幽默感可能已經被跨文化影響所改變。本研究藉由事件相關電位技術（ERP）探討文化接觸是否會影響一個人對幽默的感知。過去的事件相關電位研究聲稱，幽默處理背後的神經機制是一個「三階段模型」：由 N400 偏轉反映的「不協調檢測」、由 P600 效應表示的「不協調解決」和由 Late Positive Component 反映的「闡述」（LPC）（Canal et al., 2019; Coulson & Kutas, 2001; Ku et al., 2017）。本研究想了解跨文化的幽默理解是否也遵循此「三階段模型」。 我們調查了兩個文化群體，美國人和台灣人，並操弄了兩個因素：1）母語（英語和普通話）和 2）喜劇接觸（少接觸和常接觸）。我們分析了44名參與者，包括19名英語母語人士和 25 名中文為母語人士。參與者首先完成一份文化接觸問卷，我們會根據該問卷對他們對於美國文化的接觸程度進行評分。接著我們呈現66個實驗刺激給參與者（33個笑話和33個非笑話），並指示他們按下按鈕來判斷刺激是否好笑，並同時記錄他們的腦電波反應。 結果顯示，參與者的幽默欣賞會隨著文化差異而不同。首先，語言背景不影響幽默的腦波反應，但會影響幽默的行為反應：雖然美國人認為自己語言的諷刺笑話不是那麼好笑，但台灣人卻被逗樂，表現出台灣人對學習美式幽默的渴望。相反地，喜劇接觸會調節一個人的腦波反應，但不會影響他的行為反應：一個人接觸美國娛樂節目的次數越多，越能容忍充滿攻擊性的笑話。最後，我們發現大腦對諷刺性侮辱的反應並未遵循幽默處理的三階段模型。

Past cross-cultural research has argued that humor, which encompasses sarcastic insults, varies by society (Kalliny et al., 2006). However, while heavily relied on in the American culture for creativity and entertainment (Huang et al., 2015), sarcastic insults in the Taiwanese culture are considered to indirectly attack an individual and create hostility (Liao, 2001; Liao& Chang, 2006). Nevertheless, with growing exposure to social media and Western comedy, Taiwanese humor perception and production may have been altered by cross-cultural influence. This present study explores whether cultural exposure may influence a person’s perception of humor with the Event-Related Potential (ERP) technique. Previous ERP studies have claimed that the neural mechanisms underlying humor processing is a three-stage model: “incongruity detection” reflected by an N400 deflection,“incongruity resolution” indicated by a P600 effect, and “elaboration” reflected by a Late Positive Component (LPC) (Canal et al., 2019; Coulson& Kutas, 2001; Ku et al., 2017). It would be informative to find out whether humor perception in cross-cultural individuals also follows this model.

We investigated two cultural groups, Americans and Taiwanese, with two factors manipulated: 1) native language (English and Mandarin Chinese) and 2) comedy exposure (low exposure and high exposure). 44 participants were analyzed, including 19 English native speakers and 25 Chinese native speakers. They first had to finish a cultural exposure questionnaire, which scored them according to their degree of exposure to the American culture. They were then shown 66 stimuli (33 jokes and 33 non-jokes) and were instructed to judge the funniness of the stimuli by button press with their brainwave response being recorded.The results showed that cultural parameters could differentially affect participants’ humor processing and appreciation: while language background does not affect the ERP response in online humor processing, it influences the offline funniness rating of sarcastic insults; in contrast, comedy exposure modulates how one’s brain reacts to aggressive humor, but it does not affect the appreciation of it. Although the Americans were less amused by the sarcastic jokes of their own language, the Taiwanese were more amused, displaying the Taiwanese eagerness to acquire the American humor in their second language. In addition, the more exposure a person had to American entertainment shows, the more tolerant he/she became to aggression as a device of jocularity. Finally, the brain response to sarcastic insults did not follow the three-stage model of humor processing despite the cultural factors.