In this study humor is presented as a device for contending with unpleasant aspects of reality. Humor is defined by the author as the attitude which allows people to modify concepts and beliefs, situations and objects, and to reorganize their meaning on the spur of the moment and in more than one dimension. This attitude, with its polydimensional elements, includes surprise and criticism of what is seen, heard, or done and induces feelings of satisfaction and amusement, expressed in smiling or laughter. Such an attitude depends upon the capacity of the individual to depart from customary or automatic interpretations of stimuli and to interpret them in a novel manner. In different sections of this study,