Heritability of Humor Production Ability — A Twin Study

Sense of humor is a universal human trait, enjoyed daily across cultures. However, little is known about the factors that shape individual differences in humor, particularly what contributes to developing a great sense of humor. While previous studies have identified a significant genetic component for various humor attributes, such as humor appreciation and humor styles, no study has looked at the heritability of humor production ability. This study is the first to assess the genetic and environmental influences on humor production ability using a twin study design. Participants included 448 pairs of monozygotic twins and 196 pairs of dizygotic twins (median age 66 years, mostly female) from the Twins UK registry. Twins self-assessed their humor ability, rated the funniness of their co-twin, and completed an objective humor production task by composing funny captions for captionless cartoons. Additionally, they completed a short cognitive ability test and reported their overall health. Findings revealed that self-rated humor ability was influenced by both additive genetic and nonshared environmental factors. In contrast, objective humor production showed no evidence of additive genetic effects. Instead, all individual differences were shaped by shared and nonshared environmental influences, though a small genetic effect cannot be ruled out. These results suggest that humor production may be more complex and difficult to assess than other cognitive abilities. The study also presents intriguing implications for the evolutionary basis of humor.