Laughing about a health risk? Alcohol in comedy series and its connection to humor

Author(s)
Mira Mayrhofer, Jörg Matthes
Abstract

We investigated the connection of alcohol and humor in comedy series. To reach this goal, we first conducted a quantitative content analysis of 20 episodes each of the 10 most popular U.S. comedy series. We recorded all references to alcohol, we then focused on the type of alcohol-related behavior depicted, its consequences, and the corresponding character. Furthermore, we coded whether alcohol was connected to humor. A quarter of all scenes were alcohol related. The clear majority of alcohol references in comedy series were prominent, and nearly a fifth of them were directly related to humor. Relation to humor was mostly the case for negative aspects of alcohol consumption, such as excessive consumption or negative consequences. In addition to this quantitative analysis, we qualitatively analyzed all scenes linking alcohol and humor, leading to a framework for types of alcohol-related humor. We observed that alcohol is often linked to stereotypes and sexual allusions. Also, humor is portrayed as a typical reaction to references and portrayals of any negative consequences of drinking. In the majority of shows, one character was explicitly presented as an excessive drinker over several episodes. We conclude that comedy series may trivialize negative aspects of alcohol consumption and encourage the image of a “fun” heavy drinker personality.

Organisation(s)
Department of Communication
Journal
Psychology of Popular Media
Volume
10
Pages
59-73
No. of pages
15
ISSN
2689-6567
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000267
Publication date
2020
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
508007 Communication science, 508014 Journalism
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Cultural Studies, Communication, Psychology (miscellaneous), Applied Psychology
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
Portal url
https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/laughing-about-a-health-risk-alcohol-in-comedy-series-and-its-connection-to-humor(2c152e27-9031-401d-b599-2871bf278020).html