Creativity and Humor Across Cultures

Abstract The current analysis deconstructs creativity and humor from a cultural perspective. We first identify two key commonalities between creativity and humor: Both (a) involve appropriate violations of norms and (b) require cognitive flexibility. Because norms and cognitive styles differ across cultures, we systematically analyze how Eastern and Western cultures differ in both creativity and humor, and how cultural differences in creativity often mirror cultural differences in humor. We then review the burgeoning literature on how cross-cultural experiences increase individuals’ creativity, and explore how these experiences can also increase individuals’ humor comprehension, humor usage, and humor production. Our analysis demonstrates that Aha truly meets Haha across the globe.