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Children find humour less important than adults. There is also no difference between boys and girls, while among adults men find humour more important than women. This is according to the first results of the humour survey conducted by Madelijn Strick of Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ in cooperation with the television programme Het Klokhuis. The study "Laat me niet lachen" started at the beginning of October during Weekend of Science and will continue until June 2023. 

Children find humour less important than adults and no difference can be seen between boys and girls. In contrast, adults attach great importance to humour, especially men. "This is partly explained by the different roles humour plays in adults during, for example, dating and group interactions. Adult men often try to impress by coming off as humorous, adult women do so less. In children, these role patterns do not yet play out and you do not yet see this difference in children," says researcher Madelijn Strick. "Although children say they attach less importance to humour, humour does play a big role in their lives. Children laugh all day long and they have a strong preference for films and television programmes that are funny.

Probably children are not yet aware of the importance of humour.

For the audience survey, participants watch a number of excerpts from the television programme Het Klokhuis. These could be funny or serious scenes, or both. After watching the clips, participants answer a number of questions. Strick: "With these questions, we try to find out all kinds of things like: how funny do viewers of different ages find the Klokhuis sketches? Which jokes provide a lot of viewing pleasure, and does humour help to better understand the content of the programme?"