A1 Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä lehdessä
Statistically significant chuckles: who is using humour at scientific conferences?
Tekijät: Mammola, Stefano; Fontaneto, Diego; Santangeli, Andrea; Oswald, Krista Natasha; Correia, Ricardo; Meierhofer, Melissa B.; De Santis, Vanessa; Stout, Victoria
Kustantaja: Royal Society Publishing
Julkaisuvuosi: 2026
Lehti: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Artikkelin numero: 20253000
Vuosikerta: 293
Numero: 2067
ISSN: 0962-8452
eISSN: 1471-2954
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2025.3000
Julkaisun avoimuus kirjaamishetkellä: Avoimesti saatavilla
Julkaisukanavan avoimuus : Osittain avoin julkaisukanava
Verkko-osoite: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2025.3000
Rinnakkaistallenteen osoite: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/516091528
Rinnakkaistallenteen lisenssi: CC BY
Rinnakkaistallennetun julkaisun versio: Kustantajan versio
We’ve all been there: 11.47, swamped by a long stretch of dense scientific talks at a conference. Six slides into a hyper-technical presentation, the speaker suddenly cracks a joke. The room erupts. Shoulders relax. Minds re-engage. Humour is a powerful but underused tool in scientific communication, often sidelined by academic norms that view levity as unprofessional. Social biases can further shape who feels safe joking without risking credibility. At 14 biology-related conferences, we collected data on humour use across 531 talks. Jokes clustered at the beginnings and ends of talks, with an extra bump in successful jokes midway through. Most jokes (66%) earned only polite chuckles. Humour success was unrelated to the type of joke or form of delivery; however, male speakers told about 0.35 more jokes per talk, and both male and native speakers had a 10% higher probability of eliciting laughter. This suggests how social dynamics influence who feels comfortable using humour and whose jokes resonate with the audience. Until academia reckons with these biases, humour will remain a privilege. Still, for those brave enough or granted the social licence, a well-placed zinger can turn a forgettable talk into one people actually remember—and perhaps even enjoy.
Ladattava julkaisu This is an electronic reprint of the original article. |  |
Julkaisussa olevat rahoitustiedot:
S.M and D.F. acknowledge support of NBFC, funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research, PNRR, Missione 4 Componente 2, 'Dalla ricerca all’impresa', Investimento 1.4, Project CN00000033. The present research was carried out within the framework of the activities of the Spanish Government through the 'Maria de Maeztu Centre of Excellence' accreditation to IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB) (CEX2021- 001198). A.S. was supported by a 'Ramón y Cajal' fellowship (RYC2022-036239-I). R.C.acknowledges support from the Research Council of Finland (grant agreement no. 348352) and the KONE Foundation (grant agreement no. 202101976).
