28: Humor

Humor is considered to be a "mature" ego defense - in the sense that it can be adaptive and useful. A healthy sense of humor gives an individual the ability to put things into proper perspective, to see the absurd aspect of their own anxiety, and to deflect their reaction accordingly.

While humor can be healthy in dismissing things of little importance, it can also be misused to dismiss things of importance in order to avoid dealing with them because they are emotionally threatening - and because a mechanism of self-deception when it is used in this manner.

Freud regarded humor as indicative of anxiety, though in a rather ambiguous manner: if a person laughed at a joke, it could mean that he is apprehensive or comfortable with its topic. It depends largely on the manner of the reaction whether a laugh expresses a comfortable mirth or an anxious reaction.

The author ends his contemplation with a shrug: a humorous statement is like any other statement in its ability to be genuine or deceptive. And so, humor may sometimes be a tool of deception but is not so in all instances.